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UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


THE  PERFECT  WAY 

OR 

THE  FINDING  OF  CHRIST 


BY 
ANNA  (BONUS)  KINGSFORD,  M.D. 

(of   the   faculty   of    PARIS) 

AND 

EDWARD  MAITLAND 


SEVENTH  EDITION 


MACOY  PUBLISHING  &  MASONIC  SUPPLY  CO. 

45-49  John  St.,  New  York 
1919 


f\  ^  ■''■>'  '  ■   ■■  ■' 

^  D  4  D  I) 


Copyright  1890,  by  J.  W.  Lovbll 

Copyright  1901,  by  The  M,  P.  Co. 

Now  Owned  by 

The  M.  p.  &   M.   S.  Co. 


c  etc     t  •-  c 


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PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION. 


As  the  writers— rather  than  the  authors — of  this  book,  we 
propose — on  behalf  of  a  more  ready  apprehension  of  it,  and 
the  satisfaction  of  much  questioning  concerning  it — to  take 
occasion  of  the  issue  of  this  Edition  to  give  a  succinct  ac- 
count of  its  nature  and  import. 

That  which  The  Perfect   Way  represents  is  neither  an 

^    invention  nor  a   compilation,  but   first,  a  discovery,  and 

^      next,  a  recovery.      It  represents  a  discovery   because  it  is 

the  result  of  an  attempt — proved  successful  by  the  issue — 

to  ascertain  at  first  hand  the  nature  and  method  of  existence. 

^    And  it  represents  a  recovery  because  the  system  propounded 

i      in  it  has  proved  to  be  that  which  constituted   the   basic 

and  secret  doctrine  of  all  the  great  religions  of  antiquity, 

^      including  Christianity, — the  doctrine  commonly  called  the 

^      Gnosis^  and  variously  entitled  Hermetic  and  Kabbalistic. 

In  yet  another  sense  does  The  Perfect  Way  represent  a 
recovery,  and  also — for  ourselves — a  discovery,  seeing  that 
it  was  independent  of  any  prior  knowledge  on  our  part. 
This  is  as  regards  Faculty.  For  the  knowledges  concerned, 
although  verified  by  subsequent  research  in  the  ordinary 


U  PREFACE   TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION, 

manner,  were  obtained  solely  by  means  of  the  faculty  which 
consists  in  perception  and  recollection  of  the  kind  called  in- 
tuitional and  psychic,  and  therefore  by  the  method  which  in 
all  ages  has  been  recognised  as  the  means  of  access  to  know- 
ledges transcendental  and  divine.  Being  fully  described  in 
the  book  {e.g.^  Lect.  i.  pars.  4-18  ;  App.  iii.  part  i,  etc.), 
this  faculty  needs  no  further  definition  here.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  to  state  this  in  relation  to  it :  That  the  value  of 
the  recovery  of  the  knowledges  concerned,  great  as  it  is  for 
the  intrinsic  interest  and  importance  of  the  subject,  is  in- 
definitely enhanced  by  the  manner  of  its  accomplishment. 
For,  much  as  it  is  to  know  the  conclusions  of  ancient 
wisdom  concerning  the  most  momentous  of  topics,  and  to 
recognise  their  logical  excellence,  it  is  far  more  to  know 
their  truth,  seeing  that  they  involve  the  nature  and  destiny 
of  man  in  all  time.  It  is  this  supreme  question  which 
finds  satisfactory  solution  in  the  present  case.  Had  the 
recovery  been  made  in  the  ordinary  manner,  namely, 
through  the  examination  of  neglected  writings,  or  the  dis- 
covery of  lost  ones, — methods  which,  however  successful, 
would  have  been  altogether  inadequate  for  the  results 
actually  attained,— no  step  would  have  been  gained  towards 
the  verification  of  the  doctrines  involved.  Whereas,  as  it 
is  for  ourselves,  and  for  all  those  who  with  us  are  cognisant 
of  the  genesis  of  this  book,  and  who  are  at  the  same  tiire 
sufficiently  matured  in  respect  of  the  spiritual  consciousness 
to  be  able  to  accept  the  facts, — that  is,  for  all  who  know 
enough  to  be  able  to  believe, — the  book  constitutes  of  itself 
an  absolute  confirmation  of  its  own  teaching,  and,  therein, 


PREFACE   TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION.  m 


of  the  recovered  Gnosis.  For,  being  due  to  intuitional  re- 
collection and  perception, — faculties  exercised  in  complete 
independence  of  the  physical  organism, — it  demonstrates 
the  essentially  spiritual  nature  of  existence ;  the  reality  of 
the  soul  as  the  true  ego ;  the  multiple  rebirths  of  this  ego 
into  material  conditions ;  its  persistence  through  all  changes 
of  form  and  state  ;  and  its  ability,  while  yet  in  the  body, 
to  recover  and  communicate  of  the  knowledges  which,  in 
the  long  ages  of  its  past  as  an  individualised  entity,  it  has 
acquired  concerning  God,  the  universe,  and  itself.  In 
respect  of  all  these,  the  experiences  of  which  this  book  is 
the  result — although  themselves  rarely  referred  to  in  it — 
have  been  such,  both  in  kind  and  quantity,  that  to  regard 
them  and  the  world  to  which  they  relate  as  delusory,  would 
be  to  leave  ourselves  without  ground  for  belief  in  the 
genuineness  of  any  experiences,  or  of  any  world  what- 
soever. It  is  not,  however,  upon  testimony  merely  personal 
or  extrinsic  that  the  appeal  on  behalf  of  this  book  is  rested, 
but  upon  that  which  is  intrinsic,  and  capable  of  apprecia- 
tion by  all  who  have  intelligent  cognition  of  the  subjects 
concerned. 

Especially  is  this  book  designed  to  meet  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  the  times,— so  aptly  described  by  Mr. 
Matthew  Arnold  when  he  says  that  "  at  the  present  moment 
there  are  two  things  about  the  Christian  religion  which 
must  be  obvious  to  every  percipient  person ;  one,  that  men 
cannot  do  without  it ;  the  other,  that  they  cannot  do  with 
it  as  it  is."     In  an  age  distinguished,  as  is  the  present,  by 


h  PREFACE    TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION, 

all-embracing  research,  exhaustive  analysis,  and  unsparing 
criticism,  no  religious  system  can  endure  unless  it  appeals 
to  the  intellectual  as  well  as  to  the  devotional  side  of  man's 
nature.  At  present  the  faith  of  Christendom  is  languishing 
on  account  of  a  radical  defect  in  the  method  of  its  pre- 
sentation, through  which  it  is  brought  into  perpetual  conflict 
with  science ;  and  the  harassing  and  undignified  task  is  im- 
posed on  its  supporters  of  an  incessant  endeavour  to  keep 
pace  with  the  advances  of  scientific  discovery  or  the 
fluctuations  of  scientific  speculation.  The  method  where- 
by it  is  herein  endeavoured  to  obviate  the  suspense  and 
insecurity  thus  engendered,  consists  in  the  establishment 
of  these  three  positions  : — 

(i)  That  the  dogmas  and  symbols  of  Christianity  are 
substantially  identical  with  those  ot  other  and  earlier  re- 
ligious systems. 

(2)  That  the  true  plane  of  religious  belief  lies,  not  where 
hitherto  the  Church  has  placed  it, — in  the  sepulchre  of 
historical  tradition,  but  in  man's  own  mind  and  heart ;  it  is 
not,  that  is  to  say,  the  objective  and  physical,  but  the  sub- 
jective and  spiritual ;  and  its  appeal  is  not  to  the  senses  but 
to  the  soul.     And, 

(3)  That  thus  regarded  and  duly  interpreted,  Christian 
doctrine  represents  with  scientific  exactitude  the  facts  of 
man's  spiritual  history. 

It  is  true  that  many  men  renowned  for  piety  and  learning 
— pillars,  accounted,  of  the  faith — have  denounced  as  \\\ 
the  highest  degree  impious  the  practice  of  what  they  call 
**  wresting  Scripture  from  its  obvious  meaning."      X<ut  their 


PREFACE    TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION. 


denunciation  of  impiety   includes  not   only   the   chief  of 
those    "lesser  lights,"   the    Christian    Fathers   and  Jewish 
Commentators,   but  also  those   "two    great   lights,"   Jesus 
and  Paul,  seeing  that  each  of  these  affirmed  the  mystic 
■sense  of  Scripture,  and  the  duty  of  subordinating  the  Letter 
to  the  Spirit  and  seeking  within  the  veil  for  the  meaning. 
The  fact  is,  that  in  their  use  of  the  term  "  obvious,"  the 
literalists  beg  the  questions  involved.     Those  questions  are, 
—To  what  faculty  is  the  sense  of  Scripture  obvious,— to  the 
outer  or  the  inner  perception  ?  and,—To  which  of  these 
two  orders  of  perception  does  the  apprehension  of  spiritual 
things  rightly  belong  ?     Nothing,  assuredly,  can  be  more 
obvious  than  the  "  impiety  "  of  setting  aside  the  account 
which  Holy  Writ  gives  of  itself,  and  ascribing  to  it  falsehood, 
folly,  or  immorality,  on  the  strength  of  outward  appearance, 
such  as  is  the  letter.     To  those  whom  this  volume  represents, 
it  is  absolutely  obvious  that  the  literal  sense  is  not  the  sense 
intended ;  and  that  they  who  insist  upon  that  sense  incur 
the  reproach  cast  by  Paul  when,  referring  to  the  veil  which 
Moses  put  over  his  face,  he  says  :  "  For  their  minds  were 
blinded ;  for  until  this  very  day  at  the  reading  of  the  old 
covenant  the  same  veil  remaineth  unlifted.     Even  unto  this 
day  the  veil  is  upon  their  hearts." 

We  will  endeavour  briefly  to  exhibit  the  principles  of  this 
conclusion.  The  first  lesson  to  be  learnt  in  the  school  of 
philosophy  is  the  truth  that  the  mind  can  apprehend  and 
assimilate  that  only  which  presents  itself  mentally.  In 
other  words,  the  objective  must  be  translated  into  the  sub- 
jective  before  it  can  become  pabulum  for  the  spiritual  part 


vt  PREFACE    TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION. 

of  man.  Truth  is  never  phenomenal,  but  always  meta- 
physical The  senses  apprehend  and  are  concerned  with 
phenomena.  But  the  senses  represent  the  physical  part  only 
of  man,  and  not  that  selfhood  which  the  philosopher  in- 
tends when  he  speaks  of  Man.  This,  the  true  ego,  cannot 
come  into  relation  with,  or  take  account  of,  events  and 
persons  which  present  themselves  phenomenally  and  ob- 
jectively only.  Thus,  they  are  but  vehicles  and  symbols 
by  which  truths,  principles,  and  processes  are  conveyed  to 
the  subjective  apprehension, — the  hieroglyphs,  so  to  speak, 
in  which  these  are  portrayed.  Belonging  to  time  and  to 
matter,  persons  and  events  are — in  their  phenomenal  aspect 
— related  only  to  the  exterior  and  perishable  man ;  while 
principles  and  truths,  being  noumenal  and  eternal,  are 
cognisable  only  by  that  in  man  which,  being  also  noumenal 
and  eternal,  is  of  Hke  nature  with  them,  namely  his  sub- 
jective and  spiritual  part  For  the  apprehender  and  that 
which  is  apprehended  must  belong  to  the  same  category 
And  as  the  former  is,  necessarily,  the  purely  rational  prin- 
ciple in  man,  the  latter  also  must  be  purely  rational.  For 
this  reason,  therefore,  in  order  to  maintain  its  proper 
spirituality,  religion  must  always — as  Schelling  points  out — 
present  itself  esoterically,  in  universals  and  in  mysteries. 
Otherwise,  being  dependent  for  its  existence  upon  the  con- 
tinuance of  an  environment  merely  physical  and  sensible,  it 
becomes  as  evanescent  as  is  this.  From  which  it  follows 
that  so  long  as  we  regard  religious  truth  as  essentially  con- 
stituted of  and  dependent  upon  causes  and  effects  apper- 
taining to  the  physical  plane,  we  have  not  yet  grasped  its 


PREFACE   TO   THE  REVISED  EDITION.  vii 


real  nature,  and  are  spiritually  unconscious  and  unilluminate. 
That  which  is  true  in  religion  is  for  spirit  alone. 

The  necessary  subjectivity  of  truth  was  affirmed  also  by 
Kant,  who  regarded  the  historical  element  in  Scripture  as 
indifferent,  and  declared  that  the  transition  of  the  Creed 
into  a  purely  spiritual  faith,  would  be  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Similarly  the  mystic  Weigelius  (a.d. 
1650)  says  that  in  order  to  be  efficacious  for  salvation,  that 
which  is  divinely  written  concerning  the  Christ  on  tiie  ob- 
jective plane,  must  be  transferred  to  the  subjective  plane 
and  substantialised  in  the  individual,  being  interiorly  en- 
acted by  him.  And  the  pious  and  learned  translator  of 
the  Hermetic  books,  Doctor  Everard,  writes : — "  I  say 
there  is  not  one  word  (of  Scripture)  true  according  to  the 
letter.  Yet  I  say  that  every  word,  every  syllable,  every 
letter,  is  true.  But  they  are  true  as  He  intended  them 
that  spake  them  ;  they  are  true  as  God  meant  them,  not  as 
men  will  have  them  "  {Gospel  Treasury  Opened,  a.d.  1659). 

The  reason  is  that  matter  and  its  attributes  constitute  but 
the  middle  term  in  a  series  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  which 
are  spirit  The  world  of  ultimate  effects,  like  that  of  ulti- 
mate causes,  is  spiritual ;  and  no  finality  can  belong  to  the 
plane  of  their  middle  term,  this  being  a  plane  only  of  tran- 
sition The  absolute  is,  first,  pure  abstract  thought.  It  is, 
next,  a  heterisation  of  that  thought  by  disruption  into  the 
atomism  of  time  and  space,  or  projection  into  nature,  a  pro- 
cess whereby,  from  being  non-molecular,  it  becomes  mole- 
cular. Thirdly,  it  returns  from  this  condition  of  self-ex<-er- 
nalisation  and  self-alienation  back  into  itself,  resolving  ine 


vm  PREFACE   TO   THE  REVISED  EDITION, 

heterisation  of  nature,  and  becoming  again  subjective  and 
— as  only  thus  it  can  become — self-cognisant.  Such — as 
formulated  by  Hegel — is,  under  manifestation,  the  process 
of  universals ;  and  such  is,  necessarily,  the  process  also  of 
particulars,  which  are  the  product  of  universals.  Wherefore 
man,  as  the  microcosm,  must  imitate,  and  identify  himself 
with,  the  macrocosm,  and  subjectivise,  or  spiritualise,  his 
experience  before  he  can  relate  it  to  that  ultimate  principle 
of  himself  which  constitutes  the  ego,  or  selfhood. 

Such  a  view  of  religion  as  this,  however,  is  obviously 
incomprehensible  save  by  the  educated  and  developed : 
its  terms  and  its  ideas  alike  being  beyond  the  capacity  of 
the  generality.  This  book,  therefore,  and  the  work  which 
it  inaugurates,  are  addressed  to  the  former  class ;  —  to 
persons  of  culture  and  thought,  who,  recognising  the  defects 
of  the  popular  belief,  have  abandoned,  as  hopeless,  the 
attempt  to  systematise  it  and  to  relate  it  to  their  mental 
needs.  There  never  can  be  one  presentation  of  religion 
suited  equally  to  all  classes  and  castes  of  men ;  and  th? 
attempt  of  the  Church  to  compass  this  impossibility  has, 
of  necessity,  resulted  in  the  alienation  of  those  who  are 
unable  to  accept  the  crude,  coarse  fare  dealt  out  to  the 
multitude.  Enacting  the  part  of  a  Procrustes  in  respect 
of  things  spiritual,  she  has  tried  to  fit  to  one  measure  minds 
of  all  kinds  and  dimensions,  in  total  disregard  of  the  apos- 
tolic dictum  : — *'  We  speak  wisdom  among  the  full-grown. 
.  .  .  But  not  unto  you  as  unto  the  spiritual,  but  as  unto 
the  carnal,  unto  babes  in  Christ,  feeding  you  with  milk, 
not  with  meat,  being  not  yet  able  to  receive  it/' 


PREFACE   TO   THE  REVISED  EDITION, 


For  these,  then, — the  uninstructed  and  undeveloped, — 
the  Church  must  continue  to  speak  with  veiled  face,  in 
parable  and  symbol.     Our  appeal  is  to  those  who,  having 
attained  their  intellectual  and  spiritual  majority,  have  put 
away  childish   things,    and   who,  accordingly, — instead   of 
being  content  with  the  husk  of  the  letter,  and  ignoring  the 
spirit  for  the  form,  or  limiting  it  by  the  form, — are  impelled 
by  the  very  necessity  of  their  nature  to  seek  behind  the 
veil  and  to  read  the  spirit  through  the  form,  that  "with 
unveiled  face  they  may  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and 
be  transformed  into  the  same  image."     They  who  are  thus 
ripe  will  in  these  pages  learn  what   is  the  Reality  which 
only  Mind   can  apprehend;  and   will  understand   that  it 
belongs  not   to   the   objective   and  phenomenal   plane  of 
mundane  history,  but  to  the  subjective  and  noumenal  plane 
of  their  own  souls,  where  seeking  they  will  find  enacted  the 
process  of  Fall,  Exile,  Incarnation,  Redemption,  Resurrec- 
tion, Ascension,   the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and — as 
the  sequel — the  attainment  of  Nirvana,   the  "  peace  that 
passeth  understanding."     For  those  thus  initiated  the  mina 
is  no  longer  concerned  with  history  \  the  phenomenal  be- 
comes recognised  as  the  illusory, —  a  shadow  projected  by 
the  Real,  having  no  substance  in  itself,  and  an  accident 
only  of  the  Real.     One  thing  is  and  abides,  —the  Soul  in 
man, — Mother  of  God,  immaculate;  descending — as  Eve 
— into  matter  and  generation  ;  assumed— as  Mary— beyond 
matter  into  life  eternal.     One  state,  supreme  and  perfect, 
epitomises  and  resolves  all  others; — the  state  of  Christ, 
promised  in  the  dawn  of  evolution ;  displayed  in  its  pro- 

b 


X  PREFACE  TO   THE  REVISED  EDITION. 

cess;  glorified  at  its  consummation.  To  realise  the  as- 
sumption of  Mary,  to  attain  to  the  stature  of  her  Son, — 
these  ends  and  aspirations  constitute  the  desire  of  the 
illuminate.  And  it  is  in  order  to  indicate  them  anew  and 
the  method  of  seeking  them  intelligently,  that  this  book 
is  written. 

This  preface  may — it  seems  to  us — fittingly  conclude 
with  a  token  of  the  estimation  The  Perfect  Way  has  won 
from  persons  specially  qualified  to  judge  it.  The  fol- 
lowing is  selected  from  numerous  communications  to  the 
like  effect,  coming,  not  only  from  various  parts  of  the  world, 
but  from  members  of  various  nationalities,  races  and  faiths, 
and  showing  that  our  book  is  already  accomplishing  far 
and  wide  its  mission  as  an  Eirenicon. 

The  veteran  student  of  the  "  divine  science,"  a  reference 
to  whom,  as  the  friend,  disciple,  and  literary  heir  of  the 
renowned  magian,  the  late  Abbe  Constant  ("  Eliphas 
Levi "),  will  be  for  all  initiates  a  sufi&cient  indication  of  his 
personality,  thus  writes  to  us  : — 

"  As  with  the  corresponding  Scriptures  of  the  past,  tho 
appeal  on  behalf  of  your  book  is,  really,  to  miracles  :  but 
with  the  difference  that  in  your  case  the  miracles  are  in- 
tellectual ones  and  incapable  of  simulation,  being  miracles 
of  interpretation.  And  they  have  the  further  distinction 
of  doing  no  violence  to  common  sense  by  infringing  the 
possibilities  of  Nature ;  while  they  are  in  complete  accord 
with  all  mystical  traditions,  and  especially  with  the  great 
Mother  of  these, — the  Kabbala.  That  miracles,  such  as  I 
am  describing,  are  to  be  found  in  The  Perfect  Way,  in  kind 


PREFACE   TO   THE  REVISED  EDITION,  xi 

and  number  unexampled,  they  who  are  the  best  qualified 
to  judge  will  be  the  most  ready  to  affirm. 

"  And  here,  apropos  of  these  renowned  Scriptures,  permit 
me  to  offer  you  some  remarks  on  the  Kabbala  as  we  have 
it.     It  is  my  opinion, — 

"  (i)  That  this  tradition  is  far  from  being  genuine,  and 
such  as  it  was  on  its  original  emergence  from  the  sanctuaries. 

"  (2)  That  when  Guillaume  Postel — of  excellent  memory 
— and  his  brother  Hermetists  of  the  later  middle  age — the 
Abbot  Trithemius  and  others — predicted  that  these  sacred 
books  of  the  Hebrews  should  become  known  and  under- 
stood at  the  end  of  the  era,  and  specified  the  present  time 
for  that  event,  they  did  not  mean  that  such  knowledge 
should  be  limited  to  the  mere  divulgement  of  these  par- 
ticular Scriptures,  but  that  it  would  have  for  its  base  a  new 
illumination,  which  should  eliminate  from  them  all  that  has 
been  ignorantly  or  wilfully  introduced,  and  should  re-unite 
that  great  tradition  with  its  source  by  restoring  it  in  all  its 
purity. 

"  (3)  That  this  illumination  has  just  been  accomplished, 
and  has  been  manifested  in  The  Perfect  Way,  For  in  this 
book  we  find  all  that  there  is  of  truth  in  the  Kabbala,  sup- 
plemented by  new  intuitions,  such  as  present  a  body  of 
doctrine  at  once  complete,  homogeneous,  logical,  and  inex- 
pugnable. 

"  Since  the  whole  tradition  thus  finds  itself  recovered  or 
restored  to  its  original  purity,  the  prophecies  of  Postel,  etc., 
are  accomplished;  and   I  consider  that  from  henceforth 


xU  PREFACE    TO    THE  REVISED  EDITION, 

the  study  of  the  Kabbala  will  be  but  an  object  of  curiosity 
and  erudition  like  that  of  Hebrew  antiquities. 

*'  Humanity  has  always  and  everywhere  asked  itself  these 
three  supreme  questions  : — Whence  come  we  ?  what  ^re 
we?  whither  go  we?  Now,  these  questions  at  length  find 
an  answer,  complete,  satisfactory,  and  consolatory,  in  The 
Perfect  Way^ 

As  the  secrecy  originally  observed  is,  even  were  it  still 
desirable,  no  longer  practicable,  we  have  added  our  names 
to  the  title-page. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


According  to  classical  legend,  the  Goddess  Athena  had 
once  for  votary  a  fair  virgin  named  Medusa,  who,  becoming 
vain  of  her  beauty  and  weary  of  the  pure  service  of  the 
maiden  Goddess,  introduced  folly  and  defilement  into  the 
very  sanctuary  of  the  Temple  in  which  she  was  wont  to 
worship.  Thereupon  a  terrible  fate  overtook  her.  The 
beautiful  face,  which  had  been  the  cause  of  her  fall,  assumed 
an  aspect  so  terrible  as  to  blight  and  petrify  all  who  looked 
upon  it ;  her  tresses,  once  the  chief  object  of  her  pride,  were 
changed  into  vipers ;  and  the  hands  which  had  ministered 
to  heaven  became  as  the  talons  of  a  bird  of  prey.  Thus 
transformed  into  a  Gorgon,  she  brought  forth  monsters,  and 
for  a  time  devastated  the  earth.  At  length  the  hero  Perseus, 
"  Son  of  God,"  commissioned  by  Athena  and  Hermes,  and 
armed  by  them  with  wings  and  sword  and  shield,  slew  the 
terrible  creature,  and  smote  off  her  venomous  head.  This 
exploit — itself  fraught  with  great  perils — was  followed  by 
the  achievement  of  another  not  less  difficult.  Andromeda, 
daughter  of  the  -Ethiopian  king,  being  doomed  to  become 
the  prey  of  a  dragon  which  long  had  ravaged  her  father's 


fi  PREFACE  TO    THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

coasts,  was  already  chained  to  a  rock  on  the  seashore  and 
on  the  point  of  being  devoured,  when  Perseus — divinely 
guided  to  the  scene  of  the  intended  sacrifice — vanquished 
the  Dragon  and  delivered  the  princess.  And,  having  won 
her  love  and  espoused  her,  the  son  of  Zeus  bore  her  away 
from  her  father's  kingdom  into  heaven,  to  shine  for  ever 
beside  him,  redeemed,  immortal,  and  glorious. 

Now,  the  names  Medusa  and  Andromeda  have  a  common 
root,  and  signify  respectively  *'  guardian  "  or  "  house "  of 
Wisdom,  and  "  the  ruler  "  or  "  helpmeet  "  of  Man.  They 
are  thus  typical  names,  the  first,  of  the  Church,  the  second, 
of  the  Soul.  And  the  two  myths  of  which  their  bearers  are 
the  heroines,  together  constitute  a  prophecy — or  perpetual 
verity — having  special  application  to  the  present  epoch. 
Medusa  is  that  system  which — originally  pure  and  beautiful, 
the  Church  of  God  and  the  guardian  of  the  Mysteries— has, 
through  corruption  and  idolatry,  become  "  the  hold  of  every 
unclean  thing,"  and  the  mother  of  a  monstrous  brood.  And, 
moreover,  like  the  once  lovely  face  of  Medusa,  the  Doctrine 
which  bore  originally  the  divine  impress  and  reflected  the 
Celestial  Wisdom  Herself,  has — through  the  fall  of  the 
Church — become  converted  into  Dogma  so  pernicious  and 
so  deadly  as  to  blight  and  destroy  the  reason  of  all  who  come 
under  its  control.  And  the  Perseus  of  the  myth  is  the  true 
Humanity — earth-born  indeed,  but  heaven-begotten — which, 
endowed  by  Wisdom  and  Understanding  with  the  wings  of 
Courage,  the  shield  of  Intuition,  and  the  sword  of  Science, 
is  gone  forth  to  smite  and  destroy  the  corrupt  Church  and 


PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION,  iii 

to  deliver  the  world  from  its  blighting  influence.  But  it  is 
not  enough  that  the  Gorgon  be  slain.  A  task  yet  greater 
and  more  glorious  awaits  achievement.  Andromeda,  the 
Soul,  the  better  part  of  Man,  is  on  the  point  of  being  de- 
voured outright  by  the  baleful  dragon  of  Negation,  the  agent 
of  the  lower  nature,  and  the  ravager  of  all  the  hopes  of  man- 
kind. Her  name — identical  with  the  terms  in  which  is 
described  the  first  Woman  of  Hebrew  story — indicates  her 
as  the  helpmeet  and  ruler  of  man  ;  her  parentage  denotes 
the  origin  of  the  Soul  from  the  astral  Fire  or  ^ther,  signi- 
fied by  the  land  of  ^Ethopis  ;  the  brazen  fetters  with  which 
she  is  bound  to  the  rock,  typify  the  present  bondage  of  the 
Divine  in  man  to  his  material  part ;  and  her  redemption, 
espousal,  and  exaltation  by  the  hero  Perseus,  prefigure  the 
final  and  crowning  achievement  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  ia 
no  other  than  the  Spiritual  Manhood,  fortified  and  sustained 
by  Wisdom  and  Thought.  Of  no  avail  against  the  monster 
which  threatens  to  annihilate  the  Soul,  are  the  old  devices 
of  terrorism,  persecution,  and  thraldom  by  which  the  corrupt 
Church  sought  to  subjugate  mankind  to  her  creed.  The 
Deliverer  of  the  Soul  must  be  free  as  air,  borne  on  the  wings 
of  a  Thought  that  knows  no  fear  and  no  restraint,  and  armed 
with  the  blade,  two-edged  and  facing  every  way,  of  a  will 
omnipotent  alike  for  attack  and  defence,  and  with  the  rod 
of  a  perfect  Science.  He  must  be  bent,  not  on  destruction 
merely,  but  on  salvation  likewise ;  and  his  sword  must  be 
as  apt  to  smite  the  fetters  from  the  Hmbs  of  Andromeda,  as 
to  deal  the  stroke  of  death  to  the  Gorgon.  It  is  not  enough 
that  he  carry  to  Olympus  the  dead  Medusa's  head ;  he  must 


IT  PREFACE    TO    THE  FIRST  EDITION, 

bear  thither  also  a  living  Bride.  His  mission  is  not  only  to 
satisfy  the  Mind  but  to  content  the  Heart.  The  Intellect 
— the  "  Man  " — it  is,  who  handles  the  sword  of  the  liberator; 
and  the  Intuition — the  "  Woman  " — it  is,  who  weaves  and 
constructs.  But  for  her  labour  his  prowess  would  be  vain, 
and  his  deeds  without  goal  or  reward.  The  hero  brings 
home  his  spoils  to  the  tent,  and  hangs  up  his  shield  and 
spear  by  the  hearth-fire.  All  honour  to  the  warrior,  alike 
as  iconoclast,  as  scientist,  as  purifier  of  the  earth.  His  work, 
however,  is  but  initiatory,  preparing  the  way  and  making  the 
path  straight  for  Her  who  carries  neither  torch  nor  weapon 
of  war.  By  her  is  the  intellect  crowned  ;  by  her  is  humanity 
completed ;  in  her  the  Son  of  Zeus  finds  his  eternal  and 
supreme  reward  ;  for  she  is  the  shrine  at  once  of  divinest 
Wisdom  and  of  perfect  Love. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  classical  story,  identical  in  sub- 
stance with  the  allegorical  prophecies  of  Hebrew  and 
Christian  scripture,  exhibits  the  work  of  the  Saviour  or 
Liberator,  as  having  a  twofold  character.  Like  Zeus  the 
Father  of  Spirits,  whose  son  he  is,  the  Reason  is  at  once 
Purifier  and  Redeemer.  The  task  of  Destruction  accom- 
plished, that  of  Reconstruction  must  begin.  Already  the 
first  is  well-nigh  complete,  but  as  yet  no  one  seems  to  have 
dreamed  of  the  last  as  possible.  The  present  age  has 
witnessed  the  decline  and  fall  of  a  system  which,  after 
having  successfully  maintained  itself  for  some  eighteen  cen- 
turies against  innumerable  perils  of  assault  from  without 
and  of  faction  from  within,  has  at  length  succumbed  to  the 


PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION,  ▼ 

combined  arms  of  scientific  and  moral  criticism.  But  this 
very  overthrow,  this  very  demolition,  creates  a  new  void,  to 
the  existence  of  which  the  present  condition  of  the  world 
and  the  apprehensions  and  cravings  everywhere  expressed, 
bear  ample  testimony.  On  all  sides  men  are  asking  them- 
selves, "  Who  will  show  us  any  good  ?  "  To  whom  or  to 
what,  if  the  old  system  be  fallen,  shall  we  turn  for  counsel 
and  salvation  from  Doom?  Under  what  roof  shall  we 
shelter  ourselves  if  the  whole  Temple  be  demolished,  and 
"not  one  stone  be  left  upon  another  that  shall  not  be 
thrown  down  "  ?  What  way  shall  we  take  to  Sion,  if  the 
old  road  be  buried  beneath  the  avalanche?  Agnosticism 
and  Pessimism  have  seized  upon  the  best  intellects  of  the 
age.  Conscience  has  become  eclipsed  by  self-interest,  mind 
obscured  by  matter,  and  man's  percipience  of  his  higher 
nature  and  needs  suppressed  in  favour  of  his  lower.  The 
rule  of  conduct  among  men  is  fast  becoming  that  of  the 
beast  of  prey ; — self  before  all,  and  that  the  earthly,  brutish, 
and  ignoble  self  Everywhere  are  the  meaning  and  uses 
even  of  life  seriously  called  in  question ;  everywhere  is  it 
sought  to  sustain  humanity  by  means  which  are  in  them- 
selves subversive  of  humanity ;  everywhere  are  the  fountains 
of  the  great  deep  of  human  society  breaking  up,  and  a 
deluge  is  seen  to  be  impending,  the  height,  extent,  and 
duration  of  which  no  one  can  forecast.  And  nowhere  yet 
is  discernible  the  Ark,  by  taking  refuge  in  which  mankind 
may  surmount  and  survive  the  flood. 

Nevertheless  this  Ark  so  anxiously  looked  for,  this  Way 
»o  painfully  sought,  this  work  of  Reconstruction  so  sorely 


▼i  PREFACE    TO    THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

needed,  are  all  attainable  by  man.  The  certainty  of  their 
attainment  is  involved  in  the  nature  itself  of  existence,  and 
ratified  in  every  expression  given  to  the  mysteries  of  that 
nature  from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 

The  prime  object  of  the  present  work  is,  then,  not  to 
demolish  but  to  reconstruct.  Already  the  needful  service 
of  destruction  has  been  widely  and  amply  rendered.  The 
old  temple  has  been  thrown  down  and  despoiled,  and  the 
"  children  of  Israel "  have  been  carried  away  captive  to 
"Babylon," — the  mystic  name  of  the  stronghold  of  Ma- 
terialism. As  it  is  written  ;  *'  The  vessels  of  the  House  of 
the  Lord  " — that  is,  the  doctrines  of  the  Church — "  great 
and  small,  and  the  treasures  of  the  Temple  and  of  the 
King  and  of  the  princes,  were  carried  away  to  Babylon. 
And  the  enemies  set  fire  to  the  House  of  God,  and  broke 
down  the  wall  of  Jerusalem," — that  is,  the  Soul, — "and 
burnt  all  her  towers,  and  whatsoever  was  precious  they 
destroyed." 

Time  it  is  now  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  second  and  last 
act  of  the  prophetical  drama ; — 

"Thus  saith  Cyrus," — that  is,  Kvpto?,  the  Lord,  the 
Christ ; — "  All  the  Kingdoms  of  the  earth  hath  the  God  of 
heaven  given  me,  and  He  hath  charged  me  to  build  Him 
again  a  House  in  Jerusalem."  "  Who  is  there  of  you,  who 
will  go  up  and  build  again  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  God  of 
Israel?" 

In  these  words  is  expressed  the  intention  of  the  writers  of 
this  book.  And  if  they  have  preferred  to  withold  their 
names,  it  is  neither  because  they  distrust  the  genuineness 


PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION.  vii 

of  their  commission  or  the  soundness  of  their  work,  nor 
because  they  shrink  from  the  responsibility  incurred  ;  but  in 
order  that  their  work  may  rest  upon  its  own  merits  and  not 
upon  theirs, — real  or  supposed ; — in  order,  that  is,  that  it 
may  be  judged,  and  not  pre-judged  one  way  or  the  other. 
Such  reservation  is  in  accordance  with  its  whole  tenour. 
For  the  criterion  alone  to  which  appeal  is  made  on  its  behalf 
is  the  Understanding,  and  this  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
contrary  to  the  nature  of  Truth  to  prevail  by  force  of 
authority,  or  of  aught  other  than  the  understanding ;  since 
Truth — how  transcendent  soever  it  be — has  its  witness  in 
the  Mind,  and  no  other  testimony  can  avail  it.  If  truth  be 
not  demonstrable  to  mind,  it  is  obvious  that  man,  who  is 
essentially  mind,  and  the  product  of  mind,  cannot  recognise 
or  appropriate  it.  What  is  indispensable  is,  that  appeal  be 
made  to  the  whole  mind,  and  not  to  one  department  of  it 
only. 

In  this  book  no  new  thing  is  told;  but  that  which  is 
ancient — so  ancient  that  either  it  or  its  meaning  has  been 
lost — is  restored  and  explained.  But,  while  accepting 
neither  the  presentations  of  a  conservative  orthodoxy,  nor 
the  conclusions  of  a  destructive  criticism,  its  writers  ac- 
knowledge the  services  rendered  by  both  to  the  cause  of 
Truth.  For,  like  the  Puritans  who  coated  with  plaster 
and  otherwise  covered  and  hid  from  view  the  sacred  images 
and  decorations  which  were  obnoxious  to  them,  orthodoxy 
has  at  least  preserved  through  the  ages  the  symbols  which 
contain  the  Truth,  beneath  the  errors  with  which  it  has 
overlaid   them.       And  criticism,    however  fiercely  infidel, 


fiu  PREFACE   TO   THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

has,  by  the  very  act  of  destruction,  cleared  the  way  for 
rebuilding.  It  has  fulfilled  the  man's  function, — that  of 
analysis,  and  made  possible  the  woman's, — that  of  synthesis. 
And  this  is  according  to  the  Divine  order. 

In  both  nature  and  method,  therefore,  this  book  is  mainly 
interpretative,  and,  consequently,  reconciliatory.  And  it  is 
this,  not  only  in  respect  of  the  Hebrew,  Christian,  Oriental, 
and  Classic  systems  in  particular,  but  in  respect  also  of 
modem  thought  and  human  experience  in  general.  It 
aims  at  making  at-one-ment  between  Mind  and  Heart  by 
bringing  together  Mercy — that  is,  Religion — and  Truth — 
that  is.  Science.  It  seeks  to  assure  man  that  his  best 
and  most  powerful  friends  on  every  plane  are  Liberty  and 
Reason,  as  his  worst  enemies  are  Ignorance  and  Fear; 
and  that  until  his  thought  is  free  enough  and  strong  enough 
to  bear  him  aloft  to  *'  heaven,"  as  well  as  to  "  the  lowermost 
parts  of  the  earth,"  he  is  no  true  Son  of  Hermes,  whose 
typical  name  is  Thought,  and  who  yet  is,  in  his  supremest 
vocation,  the  Messenger  and  Minister  of  God  "the 
Father." 

Advent,  i88i. 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND 
CONTENTS 


PREFACE  TO  THE  REVISED  EDITION        pp.  i^xii 
PREFACE  .         .  FIRST  .  ..       .  pp.  i-viii 

LECTURE  THE  FIRST. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Part  I.  Purpose  of  this  book,  to  supply  the 
existing  need  of  a  perfect  system  of  thought 
and  life  by  one  founded  in  the  nature  of 
existence.  This  not  a  new  invention,  but 
a  recovery  of  the  original  system  which  was 
the  basis  of  all  religions.  Its  recovery  due 
to  the  same  means  by  which  it  was  originally 
received,  namely,  the  Intuition,  which  repre- 
sents the  knowledges  acquired  by  the  Soul 
in  its  past  existences,  and  complements  the 
intellect,  being  itself  quickened  and  enhanced 
by  illumination  of  the  Spirit.  Revelation  a 
proper  prerogative  of  man,  belonging  to  him 
in   virtue   of    his   nature    and    constitution. 


X     ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

and  crowning  the  reason.  God  the  supreme 
Reason.  The  Understanding,  the  "  Rock " 
of  the  true  Church.  Illustrations  of  Method, 
classic  and  rabbinical.  Sketch  of  Doctrine. 
Spirit  and  Matter :  their  nature,  relations,  and 
essential  identity.  Existence  and  Being. 
The  Kalpa,  Sabbath,  and  Nirvana.  Divinity 
of  Substance :  its  unity  and  trinity,  and  mode 
of  individuation  and  development.  The  true 
doctrine  of  creation  by  evolution;  found  in 
all  religions,  as  also  that  of  the  progression 
and  migration  of  Souls;  personal  and  his- 
torical testimony  to  its  truth;  recognised  in 
Old  and  New  Testaments.  Rudimentary 
man.     The  Sphinx     .....  pp.  1-24 

Part  III.  Relation  of  the  system  recovered  to 
that  in  possession.  The  true  heir.  Religion, 
being  founded  in  the  nature  of  existence,  is 
necessarily  non-historical,  independent  of 
times,  places,  and  persons,  and  appeals  per- 
petually to  the  mind  and  conscience.  Ob- 
jections anticipated.  Persistency  of  religious 
ideas  due  to  their  reality.  The  apparently 
new  not  necessarily  really  new.  Christianity 
not  exempt  from  the  influences  which  caused 
the  deterioration  of  Judaism.  Its  future  de- 
velopment by  means  of  new  revelation  fore- 
told by  its  Founder.  Need  of  such  new 
revelation  to  preserve,  not  only  religion,  but 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS.      xi 

humanity  from  extinction.  The  "  man  of 
•  sin"  and  "abomination  that  maketh  deso- 
late." Substitution  of  Gospel  of  force  for 
Gospel  of  Love.  One  name  whereby  is  sal- 
vation, but  many  bearers.     The  Christs    .    pp.  25-36 


LECTURE  THE  SECOND. 

THE  SOUL;  AND  THE  SUBSTANCE  OF  EXISTENCE. 

Part  I.  The  Soul,  universal  or  individual,  the 
supreme  subject  and  object  of  culture:  the 
essential  self,  to  knov^^  which  is  the  only 
wisdom,  involving  the  knowledge  of  God. 
Mysticism  or  Spiritualism,  and  Materialism, 
the  doctrines  respectively  of  Substance  or 
Spirit,  and  of  phenomenon.  Matter  of  mode 
or  condition  of  Spirit,  and  indispensable  to 
its  manifestation.  The  object  of  all  religion 
and  subject  of  all  revelation  the  redemption 
of  Spirit  from  Matter.  Necessity  to  creation 
of  the  idea  of  a  no-God.  The  ascent  from 
Nature's  Seeming  to  God's  Being.  The  re- 
covered system  and  Materialism  respectively 
as  Phoibos  and  Python    .        ,.         ..        ;.    pp.  37-43 


xii    'ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

Part  II.  The  Soul  as  individual,  its  genesis  and 
nature:  as  the  divine  idea,  eternal  in  its  na- 
ture, yet  perishable  if  uninformed  of  the 
Spirit.  The  "  Fire  of  the  hearth :  "  the  Di- 
vine breath.  Convergence  and  divergence: 
the  celestial  Nirvana,  and  that  of  annihila- 
tion. The  end  of  the  persistently  evil.  The 
planet  and  its  offspring.  The  fourfold  na- 
ture of  existence,  alike  in  macrocosm  and 
microcosm,  due  to  differentialities  of  polar- 
isation of  original  substance    .         .         •     PP.  43-4^ 

Part  III.  The  Soul  as  individual,  its  history 
and  progress:  commencing  in  the  simplest 
organisms,  it  works  upwards,  moulding  itself 
according  to  the  tendencies  encouraged  by 
it;  its  final  object  to  escape  the  need  of  a 
body  and  return  to  the  condition  of  pure 
Spirit.  Souls  various  in  quality.  The  par- 
able of  the  Talents       .         .         .         -       PP-  49-51 

Part  IV.  Of  the  nature  of  God;  as  Living  Sub- 
stance, One;  as  Life  and  Substance,  Twain; 
the  Potentiality  of  all  things;  the  absolute 
Good,  through  the  limitation  of  whom  by 
Matter  comes  evil.  Subsists  prior  to  creation 
as  Invisible  Light.  As  Life,  God  is  He;  as 
Substance,  She;  respectively  the  Spirit  and 
Soul  universal  and  individual;  the  Soul  the 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,    xlii 

feminine  element  in  man,  having  its  repre- 
sentative in  woman.  God  the  original,  ab- 
stract Humanity.  The  Seven  Spirits  of  God. 
"  Nature."  The  heavenly  Maria,  her  char- 
acteristics and  symbols.  As  Soul  or  Intui- 
tion, she  is  the  "  woman "  by  whom  man 
attains  his  true  manhood.  The  defect  of  the 
age  in  this  respect.  No  intuition,  no  organon 
of  knowledge.  The  Soul  alone  such  an  or- 
ganon          pp.  51-57 

Part  V.  Divine  Names,  denotive  of  character- 
istics. Function  of  religion  to  enable  man 
to  manifest  the  divine  Spirit  within  him. 
Man  as  an  expression  of  God.  The  Christs, 
why  called  Sungods.  The  Zodiacal  plani- 
sphere a  Bible  or  hieroglyph  of  the  Soul's 
history.  Bibles,  by  whom  written.  The 
"  Gift  of  God  "  ....  pp.  57-62 


LECTURE  THE  THIRD. 

THE  VARIOUS  ORDERS  OF  SPIRITS;  AND  HOW  TO 
DISCERN  THEM. 

Part  I.  The  sphere  of  the  astral,  its  four  circuH 
and  their  respective  occupants.  The  Shades ; 
purgatory;  "hell";  "devils";  "the  Devil"; 
possession    by    devils;    "souls    in    prison"; 


xW    ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

"  under  the  elements " ;  spirits  of  the  ele- 
ments, subject  to  the  human  will;  souls  of 
the  dead;  the  anima  hrnta  and  anima  divina. 
Metempsychosis  and  reincarnation;  condi- 
tions of  the  latter;  descent  to  lower  grades; 
cause  of  the  Soul's  loss    .         .         .         .pp.  63-74 

Part  II.  The  astral  or  magnetic  spirits  by 
which,  ordinarily,  *'  mediums "  are  "  con- 
trolled " ;  reflects  rather  than  spirits ;  diffi- 
culty of  distinguishing  them  from  Souls;  ele- 
ments of  error  and  deception ;  delusive  char- 
acter of  astral  influences;  their  characteris- 
tics; danger  of  a  negative  attitude  of  mind; 
necessity  of  a  positive  attitude  for  Divine 
communication ;  spirits  elemental  and  elemen- 
tary; genii  loci;  cherubim  .         .  pp.  75-84 

Part  III.  The  Sphere  of  the  celestial;  the  pro- 
cession of  Spirit;  the  triangle  of  life;  the 
Genius  or  guardian  angel,  his  genesis,  nature, 
and  functions;  the  Gods,  or  Archangels    .    pp.  84-92 


LECTURE  THE  FOURTH 

THE  ATONEMENT. 

Part  I.     This  the  central  doctrine  of  religion, 
and,  like  the  Kosmos,  fourfold  in  its  nature. 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,    xv 

What  the  doctrme  is  not;  its  corruption  by 
materialism;  priestly  degradation  of  the 
character  of  Deity.  The  Bible  represents 
the  conflict  between  prophet  and  priest,  the 
former  as  the  minister  of  the  intuition,  and 
the  latter  as  the  minister  of  sense        .        pp.  93-98 


Part  II.  The  occult  side  of  the  sacrificial  system. 
Effusion  of  blood  efficacious  in  the  evocation 
of  sub-human  spirits,  as  shown  by  various 
examples.  These  spirits  visible  in  the  fumes 
of  the  sacrifices.  Astral  spirits  personate  the 
celestials.  Abhorrence  of  the  true  prophet 
for  bloodshed,  illustrated  in  Buddha's  rebuke 
to  the  priests.  The  orthodox  doctrine  of 
vicarious  atonement,  a  travesty,  due  to  astral 
spirits,  of  the  true  doctrine.  Pernicious 
effects  of  the  use  of  blood  (or  flesh)  for 
food;  impossibility,  on  such  diet,  of  attaining 
full  perception  of  divine  truth  .         .         .  pp.  98-104 


Part  III.  Antiquity  and  universality  of  the 
Cross  as  the  symbol  of  Life  physical  and 
spiritual.  Its  application  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  Atonement  fourfold,  having  a  separate 
meaning  for  each  sphere  of  man's  nature. 
Of  these  meanings  the  first  is  of  the  physical 
and  outer,  denoting  the  crucifixion  or  rejec- 


xvi    ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

tion  of  the  Man  of  God  by  the  world.  The 
second  is  intellectual,  and  denotes  the  cruci- 
fixion or  conquest  in  man  of  his  lower  nature. 
The  third,  which  refers  to  the  Soul,  implies 
the  passion  and  oblation  of  himself,  whereby 
the  man  regenerate  obtains  the  power  —  by 
the  demonstration  of  the  supremacy  of  Spirit 
over  matter  —  to  become  a  Redeemer  to 
others.  The  Fourth  appertains  to  the  Celes- 
tial and  innermost,  and  denotes  the  perpetual 
sacrifice  of  God's  Life  and  Substance  for  the 
creation  and  salvation  of  His  creatures. 
The  pantheistic  nature  of  the  true  doc- 
trine   ..;.....    pp.  104-116 

LECTURE  THE  FIFTH. 

THE  NATURE  AND  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO. 

Part  L  Psyche  as  the  Soul  and  true  Ego  the 
result  of  Evolution,  being  individualised 
through  Matter         ....         pp.  117-121 

Part  IL  Man's  two  personalities.  Karma,  or 
the  results  of  past  conduct  and  consequent 
destiny.     The  soul  essentially  immaculate  pp.  122-123 

Part  HL  The  Ego  more  than  the  sum  total  of 
the  consciousnesses  composing  the  system,  as 
representing  these  combined  and  polarised  to 
a  higher  plane.  The  Psyche  alone  subjec- 
tive and  capable  of  knowledge     .         .     pp.  123-134 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,    xvli 

Part  IV.     The  Shade,  the  Ghost,  and  the  Soul, 

their  respective  natures  and  destinies   .   pp.  134-137 

Part  V.  The  Anima  Mundi,  or  Picture-World. 
The  soul  of  the  planet,  like  that  of  the  indi- 
vidual, transmigrates  and  passes  on      .      pp.  137-140 

Part  VI.  The  Evolution  of  the  Ego,  and  therein 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  implied  in  the  dog- 
mas of  the  Immaculate  Conception  and  the 
Assumption  of  the  B.V.M.    .         .         .pp.  140-143 

LECTURE  THE  SIXTH. 
THE  FALL  (No.  L) 

Part  I.  The  first  Church;  its  type  the  Kaabeh, 
or  cube,  denoting  sixfoldness;  dates  from 
"  Paradise."  The  Merkaba,  or  vehicle  of 
God,  drawn  by  the  four  elements.  The  four 
rivers  of  Eden.  Allegorical  character  of  the 
Mystic  Scriptures ;  how  recovered  by  Esdras ; 
their  origin  and  corruption    .         .         .pp.  144-152 

Part  II.  The  Parable  of  the  Fall:  its  significa- 
tion fourfold,  being  one  for  each  sphere  of 
existence;  the  first,  physical  and  social  .  pp.  152-159 

Part  III.  The  second  signification  rational  and 
philosophical;  the  third,  psychic  and  per- 
sonal       >         .....         ,         pp.  160-164 


xviii   ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

Part  IV.  The  fourth  signification  spiritual  and 
kosmical.  The  Restoration  implied  in  the 
Sabbath,  and  prophesied  in  the  Zodiac,  and 
in  the  arms  of  Pope  Leo  XIII         .         pp.  164-169 

Part  V.    A  new  Annunciation    ,         .         .    pp.  170-173 


LECTURE  THE  SEVENTH. 

THE  FALL  (No.  IL) 

Part  I.  Interpretation  of  Scripture  dual,  intel- 
lectual and  intuitional,  or  exterior  and  inte- 
rior; the  Soul  as  the  Woman,  through  whose 
aspiration  to  God  man  becomes  Man  in  the 
mystic  sense,  and  made  in  the  image  of  God; 
and  through  whose  inclination  to  Matter  he 
falls  from  that  image.  As  the  Fall  is 
through  loss  of  purity,  so  the  Redemption  is 
through  restoration  of  purity       .         .       pp.  174-184 

Part  II.     The  Soul's  history  as  allegorised  in  the 

books  of  Genesis  and  Revelation    .         .    pp.  185-191 

Part  III.  Source  of  errors  of  Biblical  interpre- 
tation. The  historical  basis  of  the  Fall. 
The  Church  as  the  Woman.  Rise  and  Fall 
of  original  Church.  A  primitive  mystic 
community.  The  source  of  doctrine,  interior 
and  superior  to  priesthoods    .         .         •    PP-  192-202 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,    xix 

Part  IV.  Nature  and  method  of  historical  Fall. 
The  three  steps  by  retracing  which  the  Res- 
toration will  come.  Tokens  of  its  ap- 
proach     ...        .,        .         .  .       pp.  202-207 


LECTURE  THE  EIGHTH. 

THE  REDEMPTION. 

Part  I.  The  "  great  work  "  the  Redemption  of 
Spirit  from  Matter:  first  in  the  individual, 
next  in  the  universal.  Definition  of  mystic 
terms  used  to  denote  the  process :  "  Passion," 
"Crucifixion,"  "Death,"  "Burial,"  "Resur- 
rection," "  Ascension "  .         .         .         -pp.  208-215 

Part  II.  The  Man  perfected  and  having  power: 
the  "  philosopher's  stone,"  and  kindred  terms ; 
the  Adept  and  the  Christ;  sense  in  which 
the  latter  may  be  called  a  medium  for  the 
Highest;  not  as  ordinarily  understood:  the 
Hierarch  or  Magian,  his  qualifications  and 
conditions    ......    pp.  215-222 

Part  III.  Design  of  the  Gospels  to  present  per- 
fect character  of  Man  Regenerate;  selection 
of  Jesus  as  subject;  Church's  failure  of  com- 
prehension through  loss  of  spiritual  vision, 
due  to  Materialism.    Answer  to  objection. 


XX    'ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

Jesus  as  Liberator  necessarily  spiritual; 
Paul's  view.  Method  of  Gospel  symbolism; 
the  miracles ;  kosmic  order  of  Gospels    .    pp.  222-230 


Part  IV.  Parentage  of  the  Man  Regenerate. 
Joseph  and  V.  Mary  as  representatives  of 
Mind  and  Soul.  The  two  Josephs.  Catholic 
tradition  and  hagiology.  Mary  Magdalen  as 
type  of  Soul;  also  the  Seven  Apocalyptic 
Churches.  Identification  of  the  Magi;  the 
Stable  and  Cave  of  the  Nativity.  The  John 
Baptist  within.  The  Acts  of  the  B.  V.  M. 
Ascension  and  Assumption.  Final  State  of 
Soul    .         .         .,        .         .         .         .pp.  230-242 


Part  V.  The  Twelve  Gates  of  the  Heavenly 
Salem;  the  Tabernacle;  the  Round  Table  and 
its  "bright  Lord;"  the  Number  of  Perfec- 
tion; the  genealogy  of  the  Man  Regenerate; 
"  Christ "  no  incarnate  God  or  angel,  but  the 
highest  human.  The  world's  present  condi- 
tion due  to  sacerdotal  degradation  of  truth. 
Christian  gospels  represent  later  stages  only 
of  regeneration,  the  earlier  ones  having  been 
exemplified  in  the  systems  of  Pythagoras  and 
Buddha.  Christianity  framed  with  direct 
reference  to  these,  not  to  supersede  but  to 
complete    them;    Buddha    and    Jesus    being 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,   xxi 

necessary  to  each  other,  as  head  and  heart 
of  same  system.  Of  these  combined  will  be 
produced  the  Religion  and  Humanity  of  the 
future;  hence  the  import  of  the  connection 
between  England  and  the  East.  The  Trans- 
figuration, a  prophecy.  "  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,"  their  relation  to  the  mysteries  of 
Brahma,  Isis  and  lacchos.  The  "  Kings  of 
the  East."  The  "  Eastern  Question " ;  its 
interior  significance;  the  destiny  of  Islam- 
ism       .         .         ...         .         .         .pp.  242-254 


LECTURE  THE  NINTH. 

GOD  AS  THE  LORD;  OR,  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE. 

Part  I.  The  two  modes  of  Deity;  God  as  the 
Lord,  in  the  Bible,  the  Kabbala,  and  the  Bha- 
gavat  Gita.  Swedenborg  and  his  doctrine: 
his  limitations  and  their  cause.  The  Her- 
metic doctrine.  The  "  Mount  of  the  Lord." 
True  meanings  of  "  Mystery " ;  sacerdotal 
degradation  of  the  term,  and  its  evil  re- 
sults         pp.  255-261 

Part  II.  Function  of  the  Understanding  in 
regard  to  things  spiritual.  Its  place  in  the 
systems  human  and  divine.    The  "  Spirit  of 


xxii   ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS. 

Understanding"  his  various  names  and 
symbols,  and  relation  to  the  Christ.  Cog- 
nate myths  in  illustration,  Hermes  as  re- 
garded by  the  Neoplatonists  and  by  modern 
Materialists.  Mystic  and  Materialist,  the 
feud  between  them.  The  School  of  Tortur- 
ers. The  '*  Mystery  of  Godliness,"  according 
to  the  Kabbala  and  Paul.  The  Pauline  doc- 
trine concerning  Woman;  its  contrast  with 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus.  Woman  according  to 
Plato,  Aristotle,  Philo,  the  Fathers,  the 
Church,  the  Reformation,  Milton,  Islamism, 
and  Mormonism pp.  261-278 


Part  III.  Charges  whereby  it  is  sought  to  dis- 
credit the  system  of  the  Mystics;  Plagiarism 
and  Enthusiasm:  the  signification  and  value 
of  the  latter.  Ecstasy:  its  nature  and  func- 
tion. Mystics  and  Materialists,  their  respec- 
tive standpoints.  Conspiracy  of  modern  sci- 
ence against  the  Soul.  Materialists,  ancient 
and  modern,  contrasted  .         .  pp.  278-288 


Part  IV.     Man's  perception  of  God  sensible  as 
well  as  mental.     The  divine  Unity,  Duality, 
Trinity,  and  Plurality.     The  Logos,  or  Mani- 
festor.     The  mystery  of  the  human  Face  pp.  288-292 


ABSTRACT  OF  ARGUMENT  AND  CONTENTS,   xxlii 


Part  V.     The  Vision  of  Adonai  .         .         .pp.  293-296 

Part  VI.  "  Christ "  as  the  culmination  of  Hu- 
manity and  point  of  junction  with  Deity. 
The  Credo  of  the  Elect      .        ,.         ,      pp.  296-298 


APPENDICES 


PAGE 


I.    Concerning  the  Interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture          

II.     Concerning  the  Hereafter 

III.  On  Prophesying;  and  a  Prophecy 

IV.  Concerning  the  Nature  of  Sin    . 
V.     Concerning  the  "  Great  Work,"  and  the 

Share  of  Christ  Jesus  therein 
VI.     The  Time  of  the  End    . 
VII.     The  Higher  Alchemy 
VIII.     Concerning  Revelation 
IX.     Concerning  the  Poet    . 
X.     Concerning  the  One  Life 
XL     Concerning  the  Mysteries 
XII.    Hymn  to  the  Planet-God 

XIII.  Fragments    from   the    "  Golden    Book    of 

Venus.'' 
Part  I.    Hymn  of  Aphrodite 
Part  11.    A  Discourse  of  the  Communion 
OF  Souls,  and  of  the  Uses  of  Love 
BETWEEN  Creature  and  Creature 

XIV.  Hymn  to  Hermes 357 

XV.    The  Secret  of  Satan     .....    359 


301 
306 
311 
315 

318 

323 
328 

330 
333 
335 
339 
341 


350 


353 


Index  .   .   .   .j   ..   .   .,   i.:   (.   .  367 

XXV 


"  And  the  Lord  God  said  unto  the  serpent  ...  I  will  put 
enmities  between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed 
and  her  seed :  she  shall  crush  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  lie  in 
wait  for  her  heel." —  Gen.  iii.  14,  15. 

"And  a  great  sign  appeared  in  heaven:  a  woman  clothed 
with  the  sun,  and  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  on  her  head  a 
crown  of  twelve  stars." — Apoc.  xii.  i. 


THE  PERFECT  WAY; 

OR, 

THE    FINDING    OF    CHRIST. 

LECTURE  THE  FIRST. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Part  I. 

The  purpose  of  the  Lectures,  of  which  this  is  the  firsts 
is  the  exposition  of  a  system  of  Doctrine  and  Life,  at  once 
scientific,  philosophic,  and  religious,  and  adapted  to  all  the 
needs  and  aspirations  of  mankind.  This  system  is  offered 
in  substitution,  on  the  one  hand,  for  that  traditional  and 
dogmatic  Conventionalism  which,  by  its  failure  to  meet  the 
tests  of  science  and  to  respond  to  the  moral  instincts,  is 
now  by  thoughtful  persons  nearly  or  wholly  discarded ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  for  that  agnostic  Materialism  which  is 
rapidly  overspreading  the  world  to  the  destruction  of  all 
that  is  excellent  in  the  nature  of  man. 

2.  But  although  offered  in  substitution  both  for  that 
which  experience  has  shown  to  be  defective,  and  that  which 
is  so  recent  as  to  be  only  now  in  course  of  reception,  the 
system  to  be  proposed  is  not  itself  new;  and  its  present 
exposition  represents,  not  an  Invention  as  ordinarily  under- 
stood, but  a  Restoration.     For,  as  will  be  shown  indubit- 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


ably,  there  has  been  in  the  world  from  the  earliest  ages  a 
system  which  fulfils  all  the  conditions  requisite  for  endur- 
ance;  a  system  which,  being  founded  in  the  nature  of 
Existence  itself,  is  eternal  in  its  truth  and  application,  and 
needs  but  due  understanding  and  observance  to  enable  man 
by  means  of  it  to  attain  to  the  highest  perfection  and  satis- 
faction he  can  by  any  possibility  imagine  or  desire.  And, 
as  also  will  be  shown,  this  system  is  no  other  than  that 
which  all  the  great  religions  of  the  world  have,  under 
various  guises  and  with  varying  degrees  of  success,  striven 
to  express. 

3.  Our  object,  therefore,  is  to  restore  and  rehabilitate 
the  Truth,  by  divesting  it  of  all  the  many  limitations,  de- 
generations, perversions,  and  distortions  to  which  through- 
out the  ages  it  has  been  subjected ;  and  by  explaining  the 
real  meaning  of  the  formulas  and  symbols  which  thus  far 
have  served  rather  to  conceal  than  to  reveal  it.  That 
which  we  shall  propound,  therefore,  will  be  no  new  doctrine 
or  practice ;  but  that  only  which  is  either  so  old  as  to  have 
become  forgotten,  or  so  profound  as  to  have  escaped  the 
superficial  gaze  of  modern  eyes. 

4.  Now,  in  order  to  be  entitled  to  a  hearing  in  respect 
of  a  subject  thus  momentous  and  recondite,  it  is  obviously 
necessary  that  the  claimant  should  be  able  to  plead  some 
special  qualification  in  the  shape  of  the  possession  either  of 
an  exclusive  source  of  information,  or  of  an  unusual  faculty. 
Hence  it  becomes  necessary  to  include  in  these  introduc- 
tory remarks  an  account  of  the  qualification  relied  on  in  the 
present  instance. 

5.  That  which  is  thus  claimed  is  at  once  a  faculty  and 
a  source  of  information,  and  is,  in  these  days,  of  rare 
though  not  novel  occurrence.  It  is  that  mode  of  the  mind 
whereby,  after  exercising  itself  in  an  outward  direction  as 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


Intellect,  in  order  to  obtain  cognition  of  phenomena,  it 
returns  towards  its  centre  as  Intuition,  and  by  ascertaining 
the  essential  idea  of  the  fact  apprehended  through  the 
senses,  completes  the  process  of  its  thought.  And  just  as 
only  by  the  combined  and  equal  operation  of  the  modes 
termed  centrifugal  and  centripetal,  of  force,  the  solar  system 
is  sustained ;  so  only  by  the  equilibrium  of  the  modes, 
intellectual  and  intuitional,  of  the  mind,  can  man  complete 
the  system  of  his  thought  and  attain  to  certitude  of  truth. 
And  as  well  might  we  attempt  to  construct  the  solar  system 
by  means  of  an  exercise  of  force  in  one  direction,  the 
human  system  by  means  of  one  sex,  or  the  nervous  system 
by  means  of  one  kind  of  roots  only,  as  to  attain  to  knowledge 
by  means  of  one  mode  only  of  mind.  It  is,  however,  pre- 
cisely in  this  manner  that  the  materialistic  hypothesis  errs ; 
and  by  its  error  it  has  forfeited  all  claim  to  be  accounted  a 
system. 

6.  The  Intuition,  then,  is  that  operation  of  the  mind 
whereby  we  are  enabled  to  gain  access  to  the  interior  and 
permanent  region  of  our  nature,  and  there  to  possess  our- 
selves of  the  knowledge  which  in  the  long  ages  of  her  past 
existences  the  Soul  has  made  her  own.  For  that  in  us 
which  perceives  and  permanently  remembers  is  the  Soul. 
And  inasmuch  as,  in  order  to  obtain  her  full  development, 
she  remains  for  thousands  of  years  in  connection,  more  or 
less  close,  with  Matter,  until,  perfected  by  experience  of  all 
the  lessons  afforded  by  the  body,  she  passes  on  to  higher 
conditions  of  being ;  it  follows  that  no  knowledge  which  the 
race  has  once  acquired  in  the  past  can  be  regarded  as  hope- 
lessly lost  to  the  present. 

7.  But  the  memory  of  the  soul  is  not  the  only  factor  in 
spiritual  evolution.  The  faculty  which  we  have  named  the 
Intuition,  is  completed  and  crowned  by  the  operation  of 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


Divine  Illumination.  Theologically,  this  illumination  is 
spoken  of  as  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  outpouring 
of  the  heavenly  efflux,  which  kindles  into  a  flame  in  the 
soul,  as  the  sun's  rays  in  a  lens.  Thus,  to  the  fruits  of  the 
soul's  experience  in  the  past,  is  added  the  "grace"  or 
luminance  of  the  Spirit ; — the  baptism  of  Fire  which,  falling 
from  on  high,  sanctifies  and  consummates  the  results  of  the 
baptism  of  Water  springing  from  the  earth.  To  be  illu- 
mined by  this  inward  Light,  to  be  united  with  this  abiding 
divinity,  was  ever  the  ardent  aspiration  of  the  seeker  after 
God  in  all  times  and  of  all  lands,  whether  Egyptian  Epopt, 
Hindi!  Yogee,  Greek  Neoplatonist,  Arab  Sufi,  or  Christian 
Gnostic.  By  the  last  named  it  was  styled  the  Paraclete 
and  Revealer,  by  whom  man  is  led  into  all  truth.  With  the 
Hindu  it  was  Atman,  the  All-seeing,  not  subject  to  rebirths 
like  the  soul,  and  redeeming  from  the  vicissitudes  of  des- 
tiny. By  the  combined  operation  of  this  Light,  and  the 
enhancement  it  effects  in  the  intuitions  of  the  soul, — 
enabling  her  to  convert  her  knowledge  into  wisdom, — the 
human  race  has  been  from  age  to  age  perpetually  carried 
up  to  higher  levels  of  its  evolution,  and  will  in  due  course 
be  enabled  to  substantialise  in  itself  and  to  be  all  that  in  the 
past  it  has  known  and  desired  of  perfection. 

8.  These  Lectures,  then,  represent  the  result  of  intui- 
tional memory,  quickened  and  enhanced,  we  believe,  by 
some  measure  of  the  divine  influx,  and  developed  by  the 
only  mode  of  Hfe  ever  found  compatible  with  sound  philo- 
sophic aspirations.  And  of  the  doctrine  we  seek  to  restore, 
the  basis  is  the  Pre-existence  and  Perfectibility  of  the  Soul. 
The  former,  because,  but  for  her  persistence,  progressive 
genesis,  or  gradual  becoming,  would  be  impossible.  For 
development  depends  upon  memory,  and  is  the  result  of 
the  intelligent  application  of  knowledge  gained  by  expe- 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


rience,  in  satisfaction  of  the  needs  of  the  individual ;  the 
sense  of  need  being  complemented  by  a  sense  of  power. 

And  the  Perfectibility;  because,  as  a  portion  of  the 
Divine  Being— which  is  God— constituted  of  the  Divine 
Substance  and  illumined  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  she,  the 
Soul,  is  necessarily  capable  of  all  that  her  nature  implies  ; 
and  competent  to  realise  for  the  individuality  animated  by 
her,  the  injunction  of  the  great  Master  of  mystical  science; 
"  Be  ye  perfect,  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

9.  It  is  necessary  for  the  elucidation  of  our  system  to 
speak  yet  further  of  the  constitution  of  man.  Concerning 
this,  our  doctrine  is  that  which  has  prevailed  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  and  in  all  philosophical  religions.  According  to 
this  doctrine,  man  is  possessed  of  a  fourfold  nature,  a  speci- 
ality which  differentiates  him  from  all  other  creatures.  The 
four  elements  which  constitute  him  are,  counting  from 
without  inwards,  the  material  body,  the  fluidic  perisoul  or 
astral  body,  the  soul  or  individual,  and  the  spirit,  or  divine 
Father  and  life  of  his  system.  This  last  it  is  whose  kingdom 
is  described  as  the  leaven  taken  by  the  woman — the  divine 
Sophia  or  Wisdom — and  hidden  in  three  measures  of  meal, 
namely,  the  soul,  the  perisoul,  and  the  body,  until  the  whole 
is  leavened  ;  until,  that  is,  the  whole  man  is  so  permeated 
and  lightened  by  it  that  he  is  finally  transmuted  into  Spirit, 
and  becomes  "  one  with  God." 

10.  This  doctrine  of  the  fourfold  nature  of  man,  finds 
expression  also  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  being  symbolised 
by  the  four  rivers  of  Eden — or  human  nature — flowing  from 
one  source,  which  is  God;  and  by  the  four  elemental  living 
beings  of  Ezekiel,  and  their  four  wheels  or  circles,  each  of 
which  denotes  a  region  and  a  principality  or  power.  It  has 
its  correspondence  also  in  the  four  interpretations  of  all 
mystical  Scriptures,  which  are  the  natural,  the  intellectual. 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


the  ethical,  and  the  spiritual ;  and  also  in  the  unit  of  all 
organic  existence,  the  physiologic  cell.  For  this,  as  the 
student  of  Histology  knows,  is  composed,  from  without  in- 
wards, first  of  cell-membrane  or  capsule,  which  is  not  a 
separable  envelope,  but  a  mere  coagulative  sheathing  of  its 
fluidic  part ;  secondly,  of  the  protoplasmic  medium  ;  thirdly, 
of  the  nucleus,  itself  a  mode  of  protoplasmic  substance; 
and,  lastly,  of  an  element  not  present  in  all  cells,  and  often 
when  present  difficult  to  perceive,  namely,  the  nucleolus,  or 
inmost  and  perfectly  transparent  element.  Thus  does  man, 
as  the  Microcosm  of  the  Macrocosm,  exemplify  in  every 
detail  of  his  system  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  famous 
Hermetic  philosophy  by  which  the  expression  of  every 
true  Bible  is  controlled,  the  doctrine,  namely,  of  Corres- 
pondence. 

"  As  is  the  outer y  so  is  the  inner ;  as  is  the  small,  so  is 
the  great :  there  is  but  one  law;  and  He  that  worketh  is 
One,  Nothing  is  small,  nothing  is  great  in  the  Divine 
Economy. ^^ 

11.  In  these  words  are  contained  at  once  the  principle 
of  the  universe  and  the  secret  of  the  Intuition.  She  it  is, 
the  Divine  woman  of  man's  mental  system,  that  opens  to 
him  the  "  perfect  way,"  the  "  way  of  the  Lord,"  that  "  path 
of  the  just  which,  as  a  shining  light,  shineth  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day."  And  her  complete  restoration, 
crowning,  and  exaltation,  is  the  one  condition  essential  to 
that  realisation  of  the  ideal  perfection  of  man's  nature,  which, 
mystically,  is  called  the  *'  Finding  of  Christ." 

12.  Now,  the  modes  whereby  the  Intuition  operates  are 
two,  namely.  Perception  and  Memory.  By  the  former,  man 
understands  and  interprets  :  by  the  latter  he  retains  and 
utilises.  Perceiving,  recollecting,  and  applying,  the  mind 
enacts  for  itself  a  process  analogous  to  that  which  occurs 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE, 


in  the  physical  organism.  For  its  operations  correspond  to 
the  three  physiological  processes  of  Nutrition,— prehension, 
digestion,  and  absorption. 

13.  When  the  uninitiate  person,  or  materialist,  denies 
positively,  as,  with  curious  inconsistency,  such  persons  do 
deny,  the  possibiHty  of  positive  knowledge,  and  declares  that 
"  all  we  know  is,  nothing  can  be  known,"  he  speaks  truly 
so  far  as  concerns  himself  and  his  fellows.  "The  natural 
man,"  as  the  apostle  declares,  "  perceiveth  not  the  things 
that  are  of  the  Spirit,  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him ; 
and  he  cannot  know  them  because  they  are  spiritually 
discerned.  But  the  spiritual  man  judgeth  all  things,  and  he 
himself  is  judged  of  no  man."  While  the  two  orders  here 
indicated  refer  to  the  inner  and  outer,  or  soul  and  body,  of 
each  individual,  they  refer  also  to  the  two  great  divisions  of 
mankind, — they  who  as  yet  recognise  the  body  only,  and 
they  who  are  so  far  unfolded  in  their  interior  nature  as  to 
recognise  the  soul  also.  Of  these  last  is  the  initiate  of 
sacred  mysteries.  Following  his  intuition,  such  a  one  directs 
the  force  of  his  mind  inwards,  and — provided  his  will  is 
subordinated  to  and  made  one  with  the  Divine  will — passes 
within  the  veil,  and  knows  even  as  he  is  known.  For,  as 
the  apostle  says  again,  "  What  man  knoweth  the  things  of 
a  man,  save  the  man  himself?  So  likewise,  the  things  of 
God  no  man  knoweth,  save  the  Spirit  of  God  within  the 
man.  And  the  Spirit  knoweth  all  things  and  revealeth 
them  unto  the  man."  As  thus  by  means  of  our  Divine  part 
we  apprehend  the  Divine,  no  such  apprehension  is  possible 
to  him  who  does  not,  in  some  degree,  reflect  the  Divine 
image.  *'  For  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body  is  full  of 
darkness.  If  then  the  very  means  of  light  in  thee  be  dark- 
ness, how  great  is  that  darkness  ! " 

14.  Matter  is  the  antithetical  ultimate  of  Spirit.     Where- 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


fore  the  enemy  of  spiritual  vision  is  always  Materiality.  It 
is  therefore  by  the  dematerialisation  of  himself  that  man 
obtains  the  seeing  eye  and  hearing  ear  in  respect  of  Divine 
things.  Dematerialisation  consists,  not  in  the  separation  of 
the  soul  from  the  body,  but  in  the  purification  of  both  soul 
and  body  from  engrossment  by  the  things  of  sense.  It  is 
but  another  example  of  the  doctrine  of  correspondence.  As 
with  the  vision  of  things  physical,  so  with  that  of  things 
spiritual.  Purity  alike  of  instrument  and  medium  is  indis- 
pensable to  perception. 

15.  This  then  is  the  nature  and  function  of  the  Intuition. 
By  living  so  purely  in  thought  and  deed  as  to  prevent  the 
interposition  of  any  barrier  between  his  exterior  and  his 
interior,  his  phenomenal  and  his  substantial  self;  and  by 
steadfastly  cultivating  harmonious  relations  between  these 
two, — by  subordinating  the  whole  of  his  system  to  the 
Divine  central  Will  whose  seat  is  in  the  soul, — the  man 
gains  full  access  to  the  stores  of  knowledge  laid  up  in  his 
soul,  and  attains  to  the  cognition  alike  of  God  and  of  the 
universe.  And  for  him,  as  is  said,  "  there  is  nothing  hid 
which  shall  not  be  revealed." 

16.  And  it  is  not  his  own  memory  alone  that,  thus 
endowed,  he  reads.  The  very  planet  of  which  he  is  the 
offspring,  is  like  himself,  a  Person,  and  is  possessed  of  a 
medium  of  memory.  And  he  to  whom  the  soul  lends  her 
ears  and  eyes,  may  have  knowledge  not  only  of  his  own 
past  history,  but  of  the  past  history  of  the  planet,  as  beheld 
in  the  pictures  imprinted  in  the  magnetic  light  whereof  the 
planet's  memory  consists.  For  there  are  actually  ghosts  of 
events,  manes  of  past  circumstances,  shadows  on  the  proto- 
plasmic mirror,  which  can  be  evoked. 

17.  But  beyond  and  above  the  power  to  read  the  memory 
of  himself  or  of  the  planet,  is  the  power  to  penetrate  to 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


that  innermost  sphere  wherein  the  soul  obtains  and 
treasures  up  her  knowledge  of  God.  This  is  the  faculty 
whereby  true  revelation  occurs.  And  revelation,  even  in 
this  its  highest  sense,  is,  no  less  than  reason,  a  proper 
prerogative  of  man,  and  belongs  of  right  to  him  in  his 
highest  and  completest  measure  of  development. 

1 8.  For,  placed  as  is  the  soul  between  the  outer  and  the 
inner,  mediator  between  the  material  and  the  spiritual,  she 
looks  inwards  as  well  as  outwards,  and  by  experience  learns 
the  nature  and  method  of  God;  and  according  to  the 
degree  of  her  elevation,  purity,  and  desire,  sees,  reflects, 
and  transmits  God.  It  is  in  virtue  of  the  soul's  position 
between  the  worlds  of  substance  and  of  phenomenon,  and 
her  consequent  ability  to  refer  things  to  their  essential  ideas^ 
that  in  her,  and  her  alone,  resides  an  instrument  of  know- 
ledge competent  for  the  comprehension  of  Truth  even  the 
highest,  which  she  only  is  able  to  behold  face  to  face.  It 
is  no  hyperbole  that  is  involved  in  the  saying,  *'  The  pure 
in  heart  see  God."  True,  the  man  cannot  see  God.  But 
the  Divine  in  man  sees  God.  And  this  occurs  when,  by 
means  of  his  soul's  union  with  God,  the  man  becomes  "  one 
with  the  Father,"  and  beholds  God  with  the  eyes  of  God. 

19.  That  is  not  really  knowledge  which  is  without  under- 
standing. And  the  knowledge  acquired  by  man  through 
the  soul,  involves  the  understanding  of  all  the  things 
apprehended.  Now,  to  understand  a  thing,  is  to  get 
intellectually  into,  beyond,  and  around  it ;  to  know  the 
reason  of  and  for  it ;  and  to  perceive  clearly  that  it,  and 
it  only  under  the  circumstances,  is  and  could  by  any  possi- 
bility be  true.  •  Apart  from  such  knowledge  and  under- 
standing, belief  is  impossible.  For  that  is  not  belief,  in 
any  sense  woithy  of  the  term,  which  is  not  of  knowledge. 
And  only  that  belief  saves  which  is  conjoined  with  under- 


lO  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

standing.     For  the  Rock   on   which   the   true   Church   is 
built  is  the  Understanding. 

20.  Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  Jesus  on  the 
memorable  occasion  of  Peter's  confession  of  him.  It  was 
not  to  the  man  Simon  that  was  applied  the  apostrophe, — 
"  Thou  art  Peter,  the  rock,  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build 
my  Church  ; "  but  to  the  eternal  and  immutable  Spirit  of 
Understanding,  by  means  of  which  the  disciple  had  "  found 
Christ"  Thus  the  utterance  of  Jesus  had  reference,  not 
to  the  man,  but  to  the  Spirit  who  informed  the  man,  and 
whom  with  his  spiritual  eyes  the  Master  discerned. 

21.  We  have  said  that  the  soul,  with  the  eyes  of  under- 
standing, looks  two  ways,  inwards  as  well  as  outwards.  It 
is  interesting  to  remember  that  this  characteristic  of  the 
soul  was  typified  under  the  image  of  the  two-faced  divinity, 
Janus  Bifrons,  or,  as  called  by  Plutarch,  lannos.  Now 
Janus  is  the  same  as  Jonas.  Wherefore  it  is  said  that 
Simon,  the  expositor  of  the  true  doctrine,  is  the  son  of 
Jonas,  meaning  the  Understanding.  Janus  is  also  the 
door-keeper,  as  is  Peter  in  Catholic  tradition.  And  for 
this  reason  a  door  is  called  jafiua,  and  the  first  month  or 
entrance  of  the  year,  January.  Janus  thus  came  to  be 
regarded,  like  Peter,  as  the  elder,  the  renewer  of  time,  and 
the  guardian  of  the  outermost  circle  of  the  system,  and 
one  therefore  with  Saturn.  And  as  the  former  was  called 
Pater  Janus,  so  the  latter  was  called  Peter  Jonas,  the  Rock 
of  Understanding.  And  he  is  represented,  as  also  is  Peter, 
standing  in  a  ship,  and  holding  in  one  hand  a  staff,  and  in 
the  other  a  key.  By  this  is  signified,  that  to  the  Under- 
standing, born  of  the  experiences  of  Time,  belong  the  Rod 
of  the  Diviner — or  the  power  of  the  Will— and  the  Keys 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  Wherefore  the  real  chief  of 
the  apostles  in  the  true  Church — that  which,  by  its  know- 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  il 

ledge  of  the  mysteries  of  existence,  alone  can  open  the 
gates  of  eternal  life — is  the  Understanding. 

2  2.  The  priesthoods,  materialising,  as  is  their  wont, 
divine  things,  have  applied  the  utterance  of  Jesus  to  the 
man  Simon  and  his  successors  in  office ;  but  with  the 
most  disastrous  consequences.  For,  ignoring  the  under- 
standing, and  putting  asunder  that  which  God  has  joined 
together, — Faith  and  Reason, — they  have  made  something 
other  than  Mind  the  criterion  of  truth. 

To  this  divorce  between  the  elements  masculine  and 
feminine  of  man's  intellectual  system,  is  due  the  prevailing 
unbelief.  For,  converted  thereby  into  superstition,  religion 
has  been  rendered  ridiculous ;  and  instead  of  being  ex- 
hibited as  the  Supreme  Reason,  God  has  been  depicted 
as  the  Supreme  Unreason.  Against  religion,  as  thus  pre- 
sented, mankind  has  done  well  to  revolt.  To  have  re- 
mained subject,  had  been  intellectual  suicide.  Wherefore 
the  last  person  entitled  to  reproach  the  world  for  its  want 
of  faith,  is  the  Priest ;  since  it  is  his  degradation  of  the 
character  of  God,  that  has  ministered  to  unbelief.  Sup- 
pressing the  "  woman,"  who  is  the  intuition,  by  putting 
themselves  in  her  place,  the  priests  have  suppressed  also 
the  man,  who  is  the  intellect.  And  so  the  whole  of 
humanity  is  extinguished.  Of  the  influences  under  which 
Sacerdotalism  has  acquired  its  evil  repute,  a  full  account 
will  appear  as  we  proceed. 

23.  In  these  lectures,  then,  the  practice  denounced  will 
be  exchanged  for  the  original  method  of  all  true  Churches ; 
and  appeal  will  be  made  to  that  consensus  of  all  the  facul- 
ties, sensible,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual,  comprised 
in  the  constitution  of  man,  wherein  consists  Common 
Sense.  It  is  not  upon  any  authority  of  book,  person, 
tradition,  or  order,  that  we  ourselves  rely,  or  that  we  invite 


12  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  attention  of  others.  Reference  will  indeed  be  made, 
as  already,  to  various  sacred  and  other  sources,  but  only 
for  illustration,  interpretation,  or  confirmation.  For,  con- 
fident in  the  knowledge  that  all  things  have  their  procession 
from  Mind,  and  that  consequently  Mind  is  competent  for 
the  comprehension  of  all  things ;  and  also  that  Mind  is 
eternally  one  and  the  same ; — we  have  no  fear  of  antagon- 
ism between  the  perceptions  of  the  present  and  those  of 
the  past,  however  remote  that  past  be.  Only,  let  it  be 
remembered,  the  appeal  is,  in  all  cases,  to  perception,  and 
in  no  case  to  prejudice  or  convention.  In  proceeding 
from  God,  all  things  proceed  from  pure  Reason  ;  and  only 
by  Reason  which,  in  being  unwarped  by  prejudice  and 
unobscured  by  Matter,  is  pure,  can  anything  be  rightly 
apprehended. 

24.  Hence  it  is  that  the  disposition  which  refers  every- 
thing, for  instance,  to  a  book,  and  this  perhaps  one  arbi- 
trarily selected  from  among  many  similar  books ;  or  that 
refuses  to  accept  truth  save  on  the  authority  of  miracle, 
is  a  superstitious  disposition,  and  one  that  opposes  as  in- 
superable a  barrier  to  knowledge  as  does  the  materialism — 
no  less  superstitious — which,  constructing  an  hypothesis 
independently  of  facts,  rejects  all  evidence  which  conflicts 
with  its  hypothesis.  It  is  precisely  a  materialism  such  as 
this  which,  in  the  recoil  from  superstition  of  one  kind,  has 
plunged  the  age  headlong  into  superstition  of  another  kind. 
For  the  cultus  of  the  present  day — that  of  Matter — is  the 
most  stupendous  example  of  Fetish-worship  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  But  of  this  we  shall  have  more  to  say  further 
on.  It  is  necessary  here  but  to  remind  those  who  worship 
a  book,  that  things  are  not  true  because  they  are  in  a  Bible; 
but  that  they  are  in  a  Bible  because  previously  recognised 
as  true.     And  miracles — which  are  natural  effects  of  ex- 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  13 

ceptional  causes — may  indeed  be  proofs  of  occult  power 
and  skill,  but  are  no  evidences  of  the  truth  of  any  doctrine. 

25.  The  following  story  from  the  Talmud  will  serve  both 
to  lighten  our  lecture  and  to  illustrate  our  position  in  this 
respect. 

"  On  a  certam  day,  Rabbi  Eliezer  ben  Orcanaz  replied 
to  the  questions  proposed  to  him  concerning  his  teaching ; 
but  his  arguments  being  found  to  be  inferior  to  his  preten- 
sions, the  doctors  present  refused  to  admit  his  conclusions. 
■Then  Rabbi  Eliezer  said  :  *  My  doctrine  is  true,  and  this 
karoub-tree  which  is  near  us  shall  demonstrate  the  infalli- 
bility of  my  teaching.'  Immediately  the  karoub-tree,  obey- 
ing the  voice  of  Eliezer,  arose  out  of  the  ground  and  planted 
itself  a  hundred  cubits  farther  off.  But  the  Rabbis  shook 
their  heads  and  answered,  'The  karoub-tree  proves  nothing. 
*What,'  cried  Eliezer,  '  you  resist  so  great  a  miracle?  Then 
let  this  rivulet  flow  backwards,  and  attest  the  truth  of  my 
doctrine.'  Immediately  the  rivulet,  obeying  the  command 
of  Eliezer,  flowed  backwards  towards  its  source.  But  again 
the  Rabbis  shook  their  heads  and  said,  *  The  rivulet  proves 
nothing.  We  must  understand  before  we  can  believe.' 
*Will  you  believe  me,'  said  Rabbi  Eliezer,  *  if  the  walls  of 
this  house  wherein  we  sit  should  fall  down  ? '  And  the 
walls,  obeying  him,  began  to  fall,  until  Rabbi  Joshua  ex- 
claimed, '  By  what  right  do  the  walls  interfere  in  our  de- 
bates ? '  Then  the  walls  stopped  in  their  fall  out  of  respect 
to  Rabbi  Joshua,  but  remained  leaning  out  of  respect  for 
Rabbi  Eliezer,  and  remain  leaning  until  this  day.  But 
Eliezer,  mad  with  rage,  cried  out :  '  Then  in  order  to  con- 
found you,  and  since  you  compel  me  to  it,  let  a  voice  from 
heaven  be  heard  ! '  And  immediately  the  Bath-Koi,  or 
Voice  from  heaven,  was  heard  at  a  great  height  in  the  air, 
and  it  said,  *  What  are  all  the  opinions  of  the  Rabbis  com- 


14  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

pared  to  the  opinion  of  Rabbi  Eliezer?  When  he  has 
spoken,  his  opinion  ought  to  prevail.'  Hereupon  Rabbi 
Joshua  rose  and  said,  *  It  is  written,  "  The  law  is  not  in 
heaven  ;  it  is  in  your  mouth  and  in  your  heart."  It  is  in 
your  reason  ;  for  again  it  is  written,  "I  have  left  you  free  to 
choose  between  life  and  death  and  good  and  evil."  And  it 
is  in  your  conscience ;  for  "  if  ye  love  the  Lord  and  obey 
His  voice  within  you,  you  will  find  happiness  and  truth." 
Wherefore  then  does  Rabbi  Eliezer  bring  in  a  karoub-tree, 
a  rivulet,  a  wall,  and  a  voice  to  settle  questions  of  doctrine  ? 
And  what  is  the  only  conclusion  that  can  be  drawn  from 
such  miracles,  but  that  they  who  have  expounded  the  laws 
of  nature  have  not  wholly  understood  them,  and  that  we 
must  now  admit  that  in  certain  cases  a  tree  can  unroot  itself, 
a  rivulet  flow  backwards,  walls  obey  instructions,  and  voices 
sound  in  the  air?  But  what  connection  is  there  between 
these  observations  and  the  teaching  of  Rabbi  Eliezer  ?  No 
doubt  these  miracles  were  very  extraordinary,  and  they  have 
filled  us  with  astonishment ;  but  to  amaze  is  not  to  argue, 
and  it  is  argument,  not  phenomena,  that  we  require.  When, 
therefore.  Rabbi  Eliezer  shall  have  proved  to  us  that  karoub- 
trees,  rivulets,  walls,  and  unknown  voices  afford  us,  by  un- 
usual manifestations,  reasonings  equal  in  value  and  weight 
to  that  reason  which  God  has  placed  within  us  to  guide  our 
judgment,  then  alone  will  we  make  use  of  such  testimonies 
and  estimate  them  as  Eliezer  requires.' " 

To  the  same  purport  the  famous  commentator  Maimon- 
ides,  says,  "  When  thy  senses  affirm  that  which  thy  reason 
denies,  reject  the  testimony  of  thy  senses,  and  listen  only  to 
thy  reason." 

26.  Having  spoken  of  the  Soul's  functions,  and  of  her 
relation  to  man,  we  come  now  to  speak  of  her  nature  and 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,  15 

history.  Whether  of  the  individual  or  of  the  universal,  Soul 
is  Substance,  that  which  sub-stands  all  phenomena.  This 
substance  is  original  protoplasm ;  at  once  that  which  makes 
and  that  which  becomes.  The  first  manifestation  of  sub- 
stance is  in  the  interplanetary  ether,  called  by  Homer  the 
"  Middle  Air,"  and  known  in  the  terminology  of  Occultism 
as  the  Astral  Fluid.  This,  be  it  observed,  is  not  soul,  but 
that  whereby  soul  is  manifest,  and  in  which  it  potentially 
subsists.  Matter  is  the  ultimate  expression  of  substance, 
and  represents  that  condition  in  which  it  is  furthest  removed 
from  its  original  state,  as  the  membranous  capsule  which 
forms  the  circumference  of  the  physiologic  cell  represents 
the  ultimate  expression  of  the  fluidic  contents. 

27.  The  Soul  may  be  likened  to  the  nucleus  of  the  cell. 
The  protoplasmic  medium  which  is  found  within  the  capsu- 
lar envelope  and  in  which  the  nucleus  floats,  may  be  likened 
to  the  astral  fluid,  whether  inter-planetary  or  inter-cellular. 
But  the  nucleus,  the  fluidic  body  surrounding  it,  and  the 
exterior  membrane,  are  all  equally  protoplasmic  in  nature, 
and  the  potentiality  of  one  is  in  all ;  the  difference  actually 
observable  among  them  being  due  only  to  difference  of  con- 
dition. 

28.  All  the  elements  of  the  cell,  however, — the  nucleus 
included, — are  material ;  whereas  Matter  itself  is,  whatever 
its  kind,  a  mode  of  Substance,  of  which  the  nature  is 
spiritual.  But  though  Substance  is,  by  its  nature.  Spirit, 
there  is  a  sense  in  which  Spirit  is  not  Substance.  This  is 
the  sense  in  which  Spirit  denotes  will  or  energy,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  Substance  in  which  this  inheres.  Under 
impulsion  of  the  Spirit  as  thus  defined,  Substance  exchanges 
its  static  for  a  dynamic  condition,  repose  for  activity,  be- 
coming molecularised,  and  therefore  materialised,  in  the 
process.     It  does  not,  however,  cease  to  be  Substance  by 


l6  THE  PERFECT  WA\, 

becoming  Matter ;  but  Matter  ceases  to  be  Matter  by  cessa- 
tion of  motion.  Matter  may  thus  be  defined  as  Substance 
in  a  state  of  incessant,  intense  activity,  which  is  the  condi- 
tion of  every  particle  in  the  universe.  From  the  microscopic 
molecule  to  the  planet  everything  revolves,  impelled  by  one 
force,  and  obeying  one  law. 

29.  The  truth  that  Matter  is  Substance  in  its  dynamic 
condition  was  well-known  to  the  hierophants  of  ancient 
India  and  Egypt,  and  finds  expression  in  the  Hebrew  sacred 
books — which  are  Egyptian  in  origin — in  the  phrase, — "And 
on  the  seventh  day,  God  rested  from  all  His  works,  which 
God  created  and  made." 

This  "  resting  " — which  is  not  annihilation  but  repose — 
involves  the  return  of  Matter  to  its  static  condition  of  Sub- 
stance. The  idea  presented  is  that  of  the  cessation  of  active 
creative  force,  and  the  consequent  return  of  phenomenal 
existence  into  essential  being.  This  stage  it  is  which  con- 
stitutes the  termination  of  the  creative  period,  and  the  per- 
fection of  every  creative  work.  It  is  at  once  the  "rest 
which  remains  for  the  people  of  God  ;  "  the  attainment  of 
perfection  by  the  individual,  system,  or  race ;  and  the  return 
of  the  universe  into  the  bosom  of  God,  by  re-absorption  into 
the  original  substance.  The  Buddhist  terms  it  Nirvana ; 
and  the  period  of  which  it  is  the  termination  is  called  by 
the  Hindils  Kalpa,  a  word  signifying  Form.  And  they  hold 
that  the  universe  undergoes  a  succession  of  Kalpas,  being 
at  the  end  of  each  re-absorbed  into  Deity,  Who  then  rests 
awhile  prior  to  the  next  manifestation,  reposing  upon  Sesha^ 
the  celestial  "serpent,"  or  living  circle  of  Eternity,  the 
symbol  of  essential  Being,  as  opposed  to  ex-istence  in  its 
strict  sense  of  manifested  Being. 

30.  For,  as  will  by-and-by  be  more  fully  shown,  the 
substance  of  the  soul,  and  therein  of  all  things,  and  the 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,  17 

substance  of  Deity,  are  one  and  the  same ;  since  there  is 
but  one  Substance.  And  of  this  substance,  the  Hfe  is  also 
called  God,  Who,  as  Living  Substance,  is  at  once  Life  and 
Substance,  one  and  yet  twain,  or  two  in  one.  And  that 
which  is  begotten  of  these  two,  and  is,  theologically,  called 
the  Son,  and  the  Word,  is  necessarily  the  expression  01 
both,  and  is,  potentially,  the  Universe,  for  He  creates  it 
after  His  own  Divine  image  by  means  of  the  Spirit  He  has 
received.  Now  the  Divine  Substance  is,  in  its  original 
condition,  homogeneous.  Every  monad  of  it,  therefore, 
possesses  the  potentialities  of  the  whole.  Of  such  a  monad, 
in  its  original  condition,  every  individual  soul  consists.  And 
of  the  same  substance,  projected  into  lower  conditions,  the 
material  universe  consists.  It  undergoes,  however,  no 
radical  change  of  nature  through  such  projection  ;  but  its 
manifestation  — on  whatever  plane  occurring — is  always  as 
a  Trinity  in  Unity,  since  that  whereby  substance  becomes 
manifest,  is  the  evolution  of  its  Trinity.  Thus — to  reckon 
from  without  inwards,  and  below  upwards — on  the  plane 
physical  it  is  Force,  universal  Ether,  and  their  offspring 
the  material  World.  On  the  plane  intellectual  it  is  Life, 
Substance,  and  Formulation.  On  the  plane  spiritual — its 
original  point  of  radiation — it  is  Will,  Wisdom,  and  the 
Word.  And  on  all  planes  whatsoever,  it  is,  in  some  mode, 
Father,  Mother,  and  Child.  For  ^^  there  are  Three  which 
bear  record  i?i  '  heaven^^  or  the  invisible,  and  these  Three  are 
One.  And  there  are  three  which  liear  record  on  *  earthy  or 
the  visible,  and  these  three  agree  in  one,  being  Spirit,  Soul 
and  Body." 

31.  The  soul's  entrance  into  Matter,  and  primal  mani- 
festation as  an  individual,  occurs  in  the  lowest  modes  of 
organic  life,  and  is  due  to  the  convergence  of  the  magnetic 
poles  of  the  constituent  molecules  of  some  protoplasmic 

c 


l8  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

entity,  an  action  due  to  the  working  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
Matter  concerned.  For  all  Matter,  it  must  be  remembered, 
has,  and  is,  Spirit.  The  focusing  of  these  poles  gives  rise 
to  a  circular  magnetic  current,  of  which  the  result  is  as  an 
electric  combustion,  which  is  the  vital  spark,  organic  life, 
Soul.  It  is,  however,  no  new  creation  in  the  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term.  For  nothing  can  be  either  added  to  or  with- 
drawn from  the  universe.  It  is  but  a  new  condition  of  the 
one  substance  already  existing,  a  condition  which  constitutes 
a  fresh  act  of  individuation  on  the  part  of  that  substance. 
It  has  become  by  self-generation,  a  soul  or  nucleus  to  the 
cell  in  which  it  has  manifested  itself  Such  is  the  mode  of 
operation  of  Substance,  whether  as  manifested  in  the  human 
soul  or  in  the  physiologic  cell. 

32.  The  doctrine  of  creation  by  development  or  evolu- 
tion is  a  true  doctrine,  and  is  in  no  way  inconsistent  with 
the  idea  of  divine  operation  ;  but  the  development  is  not  of 
the  original  substance.  Being  infinite  and  eternal,  that  is 
perfect  always.  Development  is  of  the  manifestation  of  the 
qualities  of  that  substance  in  the  i?idividual. 

Development  is  intelligible  only  by  the  recognition  of  the 
inherent  consciousness  of  the  substance  of  existence.  Of 
the  qualities  of  that  substance  as  manifested  in  the  indi- 
vidual. Form  is  the  expression.  And  it  is  because  develop- 
ment is  directed  by  conscious,  experienced,  and  continually 
experiencing  intelligence,  which  is  ever  seeking  to  eliminate 
the  rudimentary  and  imperfect,  that  progression  occurs  in 
respect  of  Form.  The  highest  product,  man,  is  the  result  of 
the  Spirit  working  intelligently  within.  But  man  attains  his 
highest,  and  becomes  perfect  only  through  his  own  volun- 
tary co-operation  with  the  Spirit. 

There  is  no  mode  of  Matter  in  which  the  potentiality  of 
personality,  and  therein  of  man,  does  not  subsist.    For  every 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  19 

SBolecule  is  a  mode  of  the  universal  consciousness.     With- 
out consciousness  is  no  being.     For  consciousness  is  being. 

33.  The  earhest  manifestation  of  consciousness  appears 
in  the  obedience  paid  to  the  laws  of  gravitation  and  chemi- 
cal affinity,  which  constitute  the  basis  of  the  later  evolved 
organic  laws  of  nutritive  assimilation.  And  the  percep- 
tion, memory,  and  experience  represented  in  man,  are  the 
accumulations  of  long  ages  of  toil  and  thought,  gradually 
advancing,  through  the  development  of  the  consciousness, 
from  inorganic  combinations  upward  to  God.  Such  is  the 
secret  meaning  of  the  old  mystery-story  which  relates  how 
Deucalion  and  Pyrrha,  under  the  direction  of  Themis 
(Law),  produced  men  and  women  from  stones,  and  so 
peopled  the  renewed  earth.  These  words  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist bear  a  similar  jignification  : — "  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
that  even  of  these  stones  God  is  able  to  raise  up  children 
unto  Abraham."  And  by  children  of  Abraham,  are  denoted 
that  "spiritual  Israel,"  the  pure  seekers  after  God,  who 
finally  attain  and  become  one  with  the  object  of  their 
quest. 

34.  As  between  Spirit  and  Matter,  so  between  the  organic 
and  the  inorganic  there  is  no  real  barrier.  Nature  works 
in  spirals,  and  works  intelligently.  In  all  that  modern 
science  has  of  truth,  in  respect  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution, 
it  was  anticipated  thousands  of  years  ago.  But  the  scientists 
of  old,  using  a  faculty  of  the  very  existence  of  which  those 
of  the  present  day  hear  but  to  jeer  at  it,  discerned  in  Soul 
the  agent,  and  in  Mind  the  efficient  cause,  of  all  progress. 
They  perceived,  as  all  now  perceive  who  only  allow  them- 
selves to  think,  that  were  Matter,  as  ordinarily  regarded,  all 
that  is,  and  blind  force  its  impelling  agent,  no  explanation 
would  be  possible  of  the  obviously  intelligent  adaptation, 
everywhere  apparent,  of  means  to  ends;  the  strong  set  of 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


the  current  of  life  in  the  direction  of  beauty  and  goodness ; 
and  the  differentiation  of  uses,  functions,  and  kinds,  not  only 
in  cellular  tissues,  but  even  in  crystalline  inorganic  elements. 
Why  should  Matter,  if  only  what  ordinarily  it  is  supposed, 
— unconscious,  aimless,  purposeless, — differentiate,  diversify, 
develope  ?  This  is  the  question  the  ancients  asked  them- 
selves ;  and  they  were  keen  enough  to  see  that  in  their 
very  ability  to  ask  it,  lay  the  solution  of  the  problem.  For 
the  question  was  prompted  by  Mind,  and  the  presence  of 
Mind  in  the  product  man,  involves  its  presence  in  the  sub- 
stance whereof  man  consists,  seeing  that  an  extract  cannot 
contain  that  which  is  not  in  its  original  source. 

35.  The  reasonableness  of  this  proposition  is,  however, 
at  length  beginning  once  again  to  be  recognised  even  in 
the  prevailing  school,  by  some  of  the  more  intelligent  of  its 
members  ;  one  of  these  having  recently  declared  it  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  account  for  the  facts  of  existence,  to  credit 
Matter  with  a  "little  feeling."  ^  This  is  an  admission, 
which,  carried  to  its  legitimate  issue,  involves  the  recog- 
nition of  the  system  now  under  exposition.  For  it  involves 
the  recognition  of  God  and  the  SouL  Thus  is  modern 
science,  painfully  and  against  its  will,  working  back  towards 
the  great  doctrine  taught  long  ages  ago  in  the  lodges  of  the 
Indian  and  Egyptian  Mysteries,  and  verified  by  the  spiritual 
experience  of  every  epopt  who  lived  the  life  prescribed  as 
the  condition  of  illumination. 

36.  This  is  the  doctrine  known  as  that  of  the  Transmi- 
gration of  Souls.  Of  this  doctrine  the  following  concise 
description  is  taken  from  a  translation  dated  1650  of  one  of 
the  so-called  Hermetic  books,  which,  emanating  from  Alex- 
andria, and  dating  from  pre-Christian  or  early  Christian 
times,  represent — at  least  in  a  measure — the  esoteric  doc- 

*  The  late  Professor  Clifford. 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


trine  of  the  Egyptian  and  other  ancient  religious  systems. 
Of  this  body  of  writings  only  a  few  fragments  survive.  The 
passage  cited  is  from  book  iv.  of  the  work  called  The 
Divine  Fymander,  or  Shepherd,  of  Hermes  Trismegistus. 

"  From  one  Soul  of  the  Universe  are  all  those  Souls  which 
in  all  the  World  are  tossed  up  and  down  as  it  were,  and 
severally  divided.  Of  these  Souls  there  are  many  Changes^ 
some  into  a  more  fortunate  Estate,  and  some  quite  contrary. 
And  they  which  are  of  Creeping  Things  are  changed  into 
those  of  Watery  Things,  and  those  of  Things  Living  in  the 
Water  to  those  of  Things  living  on  the  La7id ;  atid  Airy 
ones  into  Men  ;  ajzd  Human  Sotcls  that  lay  hold  of  l77imor- 
tality  are  changed  into  {holy)  Demons.  And  so  they  go  on 
into  the  Sphere  of  the  Gods.  .  .  .  And  this  is  the  most 
perfect  Glory  of  the  Soul.  But  the  Soul  entering  into  the 
Body  of  a  Man,  if  it  continue  evil,  shall  neither  taste  of 
Immortality  nor  be  Partaker  of  the  Good ;  but  being  drawji 
back  the  same  Way,  it  returneth  into  Creeping  Things.  And 
this  is  the  Condemnation  of  an  evil  Soul." 

37.  The  doctrine  of  the  Progression  and  Migration  of 
Souls,  and  of  the  power  of  man,  while  still  in  the  body,  to 
recover  the  recollections  of  his  soul,  constituted  the  founda- 
tion of  all  those  ancient  religions  out  of  which  Christianity 
had  its  birth ;  and  was  therefore  universally  communicated 
to  all  initiates  of  the  sacred  mysteries.  And,  indeed,  one 
of  the  special  objects  of  the  curriculum  of  these  institutions, 
was  to  enable  the  candidate  to  recover  the  memory  of  his 
previous  incarnations,  with  a  view  to  his  total  emancipation 
from  the  body.  For  the  attainment  of  this  power  was 
regarded  as  a  token  that  the  final  regeneration  of  the  indi- 
vidual— when  he  would  no  longer  have  need  of  the  body 
and  its  lessons — was  well-nigh  accomplished.  Thus  the 
prime  object  of  the  ancient  lodges  which  constituted  the 


22  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

pre-Christian  Churches,  was  the  culture  of  the  soul  as  the 
divine  and  permanent  element  of  the  individual. 

38.  Various  eminent  sages  are  said  to  have  remembered 
some  at  least  of  their  previous  incarnations;  and  notably 
Krishna,  Pythagoras,  Plato,  Apollonius,  and  the  Buddha 
Gautama.  This  last — the  "  Messenger  "  who  fulfilled  for 
the  mystics  of  the  East  the  part  which  six  hundred  years 
later  was,  for  the  mystics  of  the  West,  fulfilled  by  Jesus— is 
stated  to  have  recovered  the  recollection  of  five  hundred 
and  fifty  of  his  own  incarnations.  And  the  chief  end  of  his 
doctrine  is  to  induce  men  so  to  live  as  to  shorten  the  num- 
ber and  duration  of  their  earth-lives.  "  He,"  say  the 
Hindu  Scriptures,  "  who  in  his  lifetime  recovers  the  memory 
of  all  that  his  soul  has  learnt,  is  already  a  god." 

Socrates  also  is  represented  as  distinctly  asserting  the 
doctrine  of  re-incarnation ;  and  it  was  implied,  if  not  ex- 
pressed, in  the  system  formulated  by  the  superb  modem 
thinker  and  scientist,  Leibnitz. 

39.  Following  the  Rabbins,  and  especially  the  Pharisees, 
Josephus  asserted  the  return  of  Souls  into  new  bodies. 
Nor  are  recognitions  of  the  doctrine  wanting  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments.  Thus  the  writer  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
says  of  himself:  "Being  good,  I  came  into  a  body  unde- 
filed."  The  prophets  Daniel  and  John  are  told  by  their 
inspiring  angels  that  they  shall  stand  again  on  the  earth  in 
the  last  days  of  the  Dispensation.  And  of  John  it  was  also 
intimated  by  Jesus  that  he  should  tarry  within  reach  of  the 
earth-life,  either  for  re-incarnation  or  metempsychosis  when 
the  appointed  time  should  come.  And  of  that  great  school 
which,  apparently  because  it  approached  too  near  the  truth 
to  be  safely  tolerated  by  a  materialising  sacerdotalism,  was 
denounced  as  the  most  dangerously  heretical, — the  school 
Df  the  Gnostics, — the  leader,  Carpocrates,  taught  that  the 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE. 


Founder  of  Christianity  also  was  simply  a  person  who, 
having  a  soul  of  great  age  and  high  degree  of  purity,  had 
been  enabled,  through  his  mode  of  life,  to  recover  the 
memory  of  its  past.  And  Paul's  description  of  him  as  a 
"Captain  of  Salvation  made  perfect  through  suffering," 
obviously  implies  a  course  of  experience  far  in  excess  of 
any  that  is  predicable  of  a  single  brief  career. 

To  these  instances  must  be  added  that  of  the  question 
put  to  Jesus  by  his  disciples  respecting  the  blind  man  whom 
he  had  cured :  "  Did  this  man  sin,  or  his  parents,  that  he 
was  born  blind  ? "  For  it  shows  either  that  the  belief  in 
transmigration  was  a  popular  one  among  the  Jews,  or  that 
Jesus  had  inculcated  it  in  his  disciples.  His  refusal  to 
satisfy  their  curiosity  is  readily  intelligible  on  the  suppo- 
sition that  he  was  unwilling  to  disclose  the  affairs  of  other 
souls. 

40.  The  opening  chapters  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  imply 
the  like  doctrine.  For  they  present  creation  as  occurring 
through  a  gradual  evolution  from  the  lowest  types  upwards, 
— from  gaseous  elemental  cc-mbinations  to  the  crowning 
manifestation  of  humanity  in  woman, — and  thus  indicate  the 
animal  as  ministering  to  the  h  iman  in  a  sense  widely  differ- 
ing from  that  ordinarily  supposed ;  for  they  represent  the 
animal  as  the  younger  self  of  the  man,  namely,  as  man 
rudimentary.  All  this  is  involved  in  the  fact  that  the  term 
applied  to  the  genesis  of  livir  g  things  below  man,  signifies 
soul}  and  is  so  translated  when  applied  to  man;  whereas 
when  applied  to  beasts  it  is  rendered  "living  creature." 
Thus,  had  the  Bible  been  accurately  translated,  the  doctrine 
that  all  creatures  whatsoever  represent  incarnations,  though 
In  different  conditions,  of  one  and  the  same  universal  soul, 
would  not  now  need  to  be  re-declared,  or  when  re-declared, 
*  Heb.,  Nephesh  ;  i.e.^  the  lowest  mode  of  soul. 


THE  PERFECl    WAY. 


would  not  be  received  with  repugnance.  That  it  does 
produce  such  a  feeling,  is  a  sign  how  far  man  has  receded 
from  a  level  once  attained,  at  least  in  respect  of  his  afifec- 
tional  nature.  For  the  doctrine  of  a  universal  soul  is  the 
doctrine  of  love,  in  that  it  implies  the  recognition  of  the 
larger  self.  It  represents,  moreover,  Humanity  as  the  one 
universal  creation  of  which  all  living  things  are  but  different 
steps  either  of  development  or  of  degradation,  progression 
or  retrogression,  ascent  or  descent ;  that  which  determines 
the  present  condition  and  ultimate  destiny  of  each  individual 
entity,  being  its  own  will  and  affections.  Animals  appeared 
first  on  earth,  not,  as  is  vainly  supposed,  to  minister  to 
man's  physical  wants,  but  as  an  essential  preliminary  to 
humanity  itself.  On  no  other  hypothesis  is  their  existence 
intelligible  for  the  long  ages  which  elapsed  before  the 
appearance  of  man. 

41.  Thus,  not  only  is  the  doctrine  respectable  for  its 
antiquity,  universality,  and  the  quality  and  character  of 
those  who,  on  the  strength  of  their  own  experience,  have 
borne  testimony  to  it ;  it  is  indispensable  to  any  system  of 
thought  which  postulates  Justice  as  an  essential  element 
of  Being.  For  it,  and  it  alone  of  all  methods  ever  sug- 
gested, solves  the  problem  of  the  universe  by  resolving  the 
otherwise  insuperable  difficulties  which  confront  us  in  regard 
to  the  inequalities  of  earthly  circumstance  and  relation. 

The  importance  attached  to  it  by  the  Egyptians  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  they  chose  for  their  chief  religious  symbol 
an  embodiment  of  it.  For  in  representing  the  lowest  as 
linked  to  the  highest, — the  loins  of  the  creature  of  prey  to 
the  head  and  breast  of  the  Woman^ — the  Sphinx  denoted 
at  once  the  unity,  and  the  method  of  development,  under 
individuation,  of  the  soul  of  the  universal  humanity. 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  2$ 

Part  II.  ' 

42.  We  will  now  define  more  precisely  the  nature  of  the 
system  we  seek  to  restore,  and  its  relation  towards  that  so 
long  in  possession  in  the  West.  Although  neither  Christian 
nor  Catholic  in  the  accepted  sense  of  these  terms,  it  claims 
to  be  both  Christian  and  Catholic  in  their  original  and  true 
sense,  and  to  be  itself  the  lawful  heir,  whose  inheritance  has 
been  usurped  by  a  presentment  altogether  corrupt,  false, 
superstitious,  idolatrous. 

According  to  the  system  recovered,  the  Christ  Jesus, 
Redeemer,  and  Saviour,  while  equally  its  beginning,  middle, 
and  end,  is  not  a  mere  historical  personage,  but,  above  and 
beyond  this,  a  Spiritual  Ideal  and  an  Eternal  Verity. 
Recognising  fully  that  which  Jesus  was  and  did,  it  sets 
forth  salvation  as  depending,  not  on  what  any  man  has 
said  or  done,  but  on  what  God  perpetually  reveals.  For, 
according  to  it,  Religion  is  not  a  thing  of  the  past,  or 
of  any  one  age,  but  is  an  ever-present,  ever-occurring 
actuality ;  for  every  man  one  and  the  same ;  a  process 
complete  in  itself  for  each  man;  and  for  him  subsisting 
irrespective  of  any  other  man  whatsoever.  It  thus  re- 
cognises as  the  actors  in  the  momentous  drama  of  the 
soul  two  persons  only,  the  individual  himself  and  God. 
And  whereas  in  it  alone  is  to  be  found  a  complete  and 
reasonable  exposition  of  the  parts  assigned  to  both  in  the 
work  of  salvation,  all  competing  systems  must  be  regarded 
as  but  an  aspiration  towards  or  a  degeneration  from  it, 
and  as  true  only  in  so  far  as  they  accord  with  it. 

43.  And  here  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  doctrine  of 
religion  as  a  present  reality,  needing  no  historic  basis,  is 
one  which  in  this  age  ought  to  find  special  welcome.  For, 
what  now  is  the   condition  of  men's  minds  in  respect  to 


TBB  PERFECT  WAY. 


the  historical  element  of  the  existing  religion  ?  None  but 
those  who  through  lack  of  education  stand  necessarily  upon 
the  old  ways,  have  any  reliance  upon  it.  Critical  analysis 
—  that  function  of  the  mind  which,  in  its  nature  destructive, 
is,  nevertheless,  really  harmful  only  to  that  which,  in  being 
untrue,  has  not  in  itself  the  element  of  perpetuity — has  laid 
an  unsparing  axe  to  the  forest  of  ancient  tradition.  The 
science  of  Biblical  exegesis  has  made  it  obvious  to  every 
percipient  mind  that  sacred  books,  so  far  from  being 
infallible  records  of  actual  events,  abound  with  inaccuracies, 
contradictions,  and  interpolations;  that  sacred  persons,  if 
they  existed  at  all,  had  histories  differing  widely  from  those 
narrated  of  them;  that  sacred  events  could  not  have 
occurred  in  the  manner  stated ;  and  that  sacred  doctrines 
are,  for  the  most  part,  either  intrinsically  absurd,  or  com- 
mon to  systems  yet  more  ancient,  whose  claims  to  sanctity 
are  denied. 

44.  Thus,  to  take  the  leading  items  of  Christian  belief, 
— the  whole  story  of  the  Incarnation,  the  expectation  of  the 
Messiah,  the  announcement  by  the  angel,  the  conception 
by  the  Virgin,  the  birth  at  midnight  in  a  cave,  the  name  of 
the  immaculate  mother,  the  appearance  to  shepherds  of 
the  celestial  host,  the  visit  of  the  Magi,  the  flight  from 
the  persecuting  Herod,  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents,  the 
finding  of  the  divine  boy  in  the  temple,  the  baptism,  the 
fasting  and  trial  in  the  wilderness,  the  conversion  of  the 
water  into  wine,  and  other  like  marvels,  the  triumphal  entry 
into  the  holy  city,  the  passion,  the  crucifixion,  the  resur- 
rection, and  the  ascension,  and  much  of  the  teaching  ascribed 
to  the  Saviour, — all  these  are  variously  attributed  also  to 
Osiris,  Mithras,  lacchos,  Zoroaster,  Krishna,  Buddha,  and 
others,  at  dates  long  antecedent  to  the  Christian  era.  And 
monuments   and   sculptures    still    exist,   showing  that   the 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  29 

entire  story  of  the  Divine  Man  of  the  gospels  was,  long 
before  Moses,  taught  to  communicants  and  celebrated  in 
sacraments  in  numberless  colleges  of  sacred  mysteries. 

45.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church — who  were  well  aware 
of  these  facts — dealt  with  them  variously  according  to  the 
tone  and  resources  of  their  individual  minds.  Many  of  the 
most  notable,  including  St.  Augustine,  saw  the  truth  in  its 
proper  light;  but  the  explanation  accepted  was,  that  the 
Devil,  foreknowing  the  counsel  and  intention  of  God,  had 
maliciously  forestalled  the  career  of  the  true  Messiah  by 
false  semblances,  causing  it  to  be  enacted  in  anticipation  by 
a  number  of  spurious  messiahs,  so  that  wlien  the  world's 
true  redeemer  should  appear,  he  niiglit  be  lost,  as  it  were, 
in  the  crowd  of  his  predecessors,  and  shorn  of  all  particular 
glory. 

46.  And  what,  it  may  be  asked,  01  the  i)ersonage  just 
mentioned,  who  plays  so  enormous  a  part  in  the  orthodox 
presentment?  He,  too,  is  a  perversion  of  a  truth,  tlie  real 
meaning  of  which  will  by-and-by  be  exhibited.  It  is  sulli- 
cient  to  remark  here,  that,  in  being  founded — as  by  the 
current  corrupt  orthodoxy — on  the  conception  of  a  personal 
and,  virtually,  a  divine  principle  of  evil,  Ciiristi.mity  is 
made  to  rest  upon  an  hypothesis  altogether  monstrous  and 
impossible. 

47.  Tliere  is  neither  space  nor  need  to  particularise  the 
strictures  to  which  the  Bible,  throughout,  is  fairly  open  ahke 
on  grounds  historical,  moral,  and  scientific;  or  to  speak 
of  the  many  ecclesiastical  Councils  which,  from  century  to 
century,  have  dealt  with  its  component  books,  variously 
affirming  or  denying  their  canonicity  ;  or  to  point  out  the 
innumerable  contradictions  and  inconsistencies,  of  doctrine 
and  of  narrative,  with  which  it  abounds.  Tiiese  things, 
already   famiUar    to    many,    are    readily   verifiable    by  all. 


08  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

This  only  must  be  insisted  on; — to  be  a  student  of 
religion,  to  be  a  theologian  in  the  true  sense,  it  is  necessary 
to  have  knowledge,  not  of  one  religion  only,  but  of  all 
religions,  not  of  one  sacred  book  only,  but  of  all  sacred 
books ;  and  to  deal  with  all  as  with  the  one,  and  with  the 
one  as  with  all ;  to  handle  the  Vedas,  the  Bhagavat-Gita, 
the  Lalita-Vistara,  the  Zend-Avesta,  and  the  Kabbala  with 
the  same  reverence  as  the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  and 
to  apply  to  these  the  same  critical  touch-stone  as  to  those. 
It  is  truth  alone  which  is  valuable,  and  this  fears  nothing. 
The  crucible  does  not  hurt  the  gold.  The  dross  alone  falls 
away  under  the  test ;  and  of  the  dross  we  are  surely  well 
rid. 

48.  And  when  all  this  has  been  done ;  when  the  mind, 
purified  from  prejudice  and  disciplined  by  experience,  has 
become  an  instrument  of  knowledge  competent  for  the  dis- 
cernment of  truth,  what,  it  will  be  asked,  remains  to  man 
of  his  faith  and  hope,  his  God  and  his  soul  ?  We  know 
the  reply  of  the  Materialist  He,  as  has  been  wittily  said, 
throws  away  the  child  with  the  water  in  which  it  has  been 
washed.  Because  he  finds  impurity  obstructing  the  truth, 
he  rejects  the  truth  together  with  the  impurity.  That 
which  remains  is  the  real,  ever-living  religion;  a  Divine 
and  operating  Word,  and  not  a  testament  of  the  dead ;  a 
God  and  a  Soul  who,  as  Parent  and  Offspring,  are  able  to 
come  into  direct  and  palpable  relations  with  each  other. 
And  the  Creation,  the  Fall,  the  Redemption,  and  the  Ascen- 
sion— rescued  from  the  tomb  of  the  past — become  living 
and  eternal  verities,  enacted  by  every  child  of  God  in  his 
own  soul ;  and  Inspiration  once  more  lifts  its  voice  and  is 
heard  among  us  as  truly  as  of  old. 

49.  For  those,  then,  who,  being  indeed  of  Christ,  as 
Well  as  called  by  his  name,  know  by  personal  experience 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,  29 

that  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within,"  there  is  no  cause 
for  anxiety  as  to  the  issue  of  any  investigation,  critical, 
scientific,  or  historical,  how  keen  and  unsparing  soever. 
For  they  know  that  Religion — which  is  the  Science  of 
Life  Eternal — appeals,  not  to  the  bodily  senses,  but  to 
the  soul,  sincerio  mere  physical  phenomena  can  have 
any  relation  to  spiritual  needs.  They  know,  too,  that  in 
representing  absolute,  eternal  verities,  religious  ideas  are 
beyond  the  reach  of  any  power  of  earth  to  erase  or  destroy 
them.  But  they  who,  on  the  contrary,  have  staked  their  all 
of  faith  in  God  and  hope  in  heaven  upon  the  special  events 
of  a  particular  period  and  place,  have  indeed  ground  for 
dismay  and  despair  when  they  behold  in  the  sculptured 
remains  of  other  places  and  remoter  times,  the  effigies  of 
the  like  events, — the  crucifixion  of  Mithras,,  the  infant 
Horus  or  Krishna  in  the  arms  of  an  immaculate  mother,  the 
resurrection  of  Osiris,  and  the  ascension  of  Heracles.  For 
they  see  in  these,  the  invalidation,  or  at  least  the  perplex- 
ing multiplication,  of  events  which,  on  their  hypothesis, 
ought  to  have  happened  but  once  in  the  world's — nay  in 
the  universe's — whole  history,  and  on  the  correct  reporting 
of  which  their  eternal  welfare  depends.  The  actual  value 
of  these  facts  will  appear  as  we  proceed.  They  are  cited 
here  in  demonstration  of  the  fallacy  involved  in  the  con- 
ception of  religion  as  a  thing  dependent  on  history. 
Rightly  interpreted,  they  will  show  that  the  Soul  has  no 
relation  to  phenomena,  and  that  "  the  kingdom  of  Christis 
^y^  of  this  world." 

50.  The  Gospels  bear  evidence  of  being  compiled  or 
adapted  in  great  measure  from  older  Oriental  Scriptures. 
But  whether  or  not  the  events  related  happened  only  in  part 
or  not  at  all ;  whether  they  were  put  into  their  present  form 
:)y  Alexandrian  Epopts  some  hundred  years  after  the  date 


30  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

assigned  in  them  to  the  events  they  record ;  or  whether 
their  central  figure,  being  himself  an  Initiate  and  Adept  in 
the  religious  science  of  Egypt  and  India,  actually  rehearsed 
in  his  own  person  the  greater  part  of  the  sacred  mysteries, 
— is,  happily,  but  of  secondary  importance.  And  even  were 
it  otherwise,  it  is  obvious  that  the  further  we  get  away 
from  the  period  of  the  events  relied  on,  and  the  more  years 
multiply  upon  us,  thrusting  that  past  into  still  remoter 
times  and  ever  deepening  shades  of  antiquity,  the  more 
difficult  must  the  task  of  verification  become,  and  the 
weaker  the  influences  thence  exerted  upon  man's  moral  and 
intellectual  nature.  Alas  for  the  hopes  of  the  generations 
yet  to  be  born,  if  an  historical  Christianity  be  indeed  essen- 
tial to  salvation !  Nor  can  we  be  blind  to  the  mjustice  and 
cruelty  of  making  salvation  dependent  upon  belief  in  occur- 
rences concerning  which  only  a  learned  i^vj  can  at  any 
time  be  in  a  position  to  judge  whether  or  not  they  ever 
took  place ;  and  these,  moreover,  occurrences  of  a  nature 
to  be  a  priori  incredible  save  to  an  elect  few.  Assuredly, 
if  any  demonstration  be  needed  of  the  necessary  unsound- 
ness of  a  system  which  rests  upon  history,  it  is  to  be  found 
in  the  present  condition  of  Christianity.  Declining  to  entrust 
its  doctrine  to  Reason,  the  Church  has  taken  its  stand  upon 
historical  evidence,  only  to  find  this  give  way  under  it ; 
and  it  is  now  without  any  basis  save  that  of  Custom.  The 
time  has  come  in  which  Christians  are  Christians,  only 
because  they  are  accustomed  to  be  Christians.  Habit  has 
superseded  conviction. 

51.  Very  different  is  the  relation  between  the  human 
mind  and  the  system  under  exposition.  Appealing  to  the 
understanding,  and  condemning  as  superstition  the  faith 
which  is  not  also  knowledge,  this  system  meets  unshaken 
the  tests  alike  of  time  and  of  reason  ;  and,  so  far  from 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  31 

looking  coldly  on  science,  hails  it  as  an  indispensable  ally, 
stipulating  only  that  it  be  science,  and  not  that  which  is 
"falsely  so  called."  Hoping  everything  and  fearing  nothing 
from  the  light  of  reason,  it  welcomes  the  searching  ray 
into  every  recess,  and  greets  with  eager  hands  the  phi- 
losopher, the  historian,  the  critic,  the  philologist,  the 
mathematician,  the  classic,  the  physicist,  and  the  occultist. 
For  its  appeal  is  to  intelligence  as  developed  by  know- 
ledge, in  the  absolute  assurance  that  where  these  exist  in 
the  greatest  plenitude,  there  it  will  gain  the  fullest  recog- 
nition. 

52.  And  the  intelligence  appealed  to  is  not  of  the  head 
only,  but  is  also  of  the  heart ;  of  the  moral  conscience  as 
well  as  of  the  intellect.  Insisting  upon  the  essential  unity 
of  all  being,  it  admits  of  no  antagonism  between  the  human 
and  the  Divine.  But  holding  that  the  human  is  the  Divine, 
and  that  that  which  is  not  Divine  is  sub-human,  it  seeks, 
by  the  demonstration  of  the  perfection  of  God,  to  enable 
man  to  perfect  himself  after  the  image  of  God.  And  it 
claims,  moreover,  to  be  the  one  philosophy  wherein  that 
image  finds  intelligent  exposition,  and  whereby  it  obtains 
practical  recognition.  To  the  question  why,  being  in  all 
respects  so  admirable,  it  has  become  lost  or  perverted,  the 
answer  involves  the  history  of  man's  original  Fall,  and  will 
in  due  course  appear. 

53.  There  are  two  or  three  classes  of  objectors,  to  whom 
reply  will  now  be  made  in  anticipation.  Of  these  classes 
one  is  that  which,  under  the  influence  of  the  prevailing 
Materialism,  holds,  that  so  far  from  the  phrase  just  em- 
ployed, "Image  of  God,"  having  any  basis  in  reality, 
modern  science  has  practically  demonstrated  the  non- 
existence of  God.  If  the  following  reply  to  this  class 
involves  a  reference  to  regions  of  being  as  yet  unrecog- 


32  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

nised  in  their  own  science,  it  is  not  upon  us  that  the 
responsibility  for  the  limitation  rests.  We  speak  of  that 
which  we  know,  having  learned  it  by  experience. 

54.  A  true  Idea  is  the  reflect  of  a  true  Substance.  It 
is  because  religious  ideas  are  true  ideas  that  they  are 
common  to  all  ages  and  peoples;  the  differences  being 
of  expression  merely,  and  due  to  the  variation  of  density 
and  character  of  the  magnetic  atmosphere  through  which 
the  image  passes.  The  fact  that  every  nation  in  every 
age  has  conceived,  in  some  shape,  of  the  Gods,  constitutes 
of  itself  a  proof  that  the  Gods  really  are.  For  Nothing 
projects  no  image  upon  the  magnetic  light;  and  where 
an  image  is  universally  perceived,  there  is  certainly  an 
object  which  projects  it.  An  Idea,  inborn,  ineradicable, 
constant,  which  sophism,  ridicule,  or  false  science  has 
power  to  break  only,  but  not  to  dispel : — an  image  which, 
however  disturbed,  invariably  returns  on  itself  and  re- 
forms as  does  the  image  of  the  sky  or  the  stars  in  a  lake, 
however  the  reflecting  water  may  be  momentarily  shaken 
by  a  stone  or  a  passing  vessel:— such  an  image  as  this 
is  necessarily  the  reflection  of  a  real  and  true  thing,  and 
no  illusion  begotten  of  the  water  itsel£ 

In  the  same  manner  the  constant  Idea  of  the  Gods, 
persistent  in  all  minds  in  all  ages,  is  a  true  image ;  for  it 
is  verily,  and  in  no  metaphoric  sense,  the  projection  upon 
the  human  perception  of  the  Eidola  of  the  Divine  persons. 
The  Eidolon  is  the  reflection  of  a  true  object  in  the 
magnetic  atmosphere ;  and  the  magnetic  atmosphere  is  a 
transparent  medium,  through  which  the  soul  receives 
sensations.  For  sensation  is  the  only  means  of  knowledge, 
whether  for  the  body .  or  for  the  reason.  The  body  per- 
ceives by  means  of  the  five  avenues  of  touch.  The  soul 
perceives  in  like  manner  by  the  same  sense,  but  of  a  finer 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE.  33 

sort  and  put  into  action  by  subtler  agents.  The  soul  can 
know  nothing  not  perceptible  \  and  nothing  not  perceptible 
is  real.  For  that  which  is  not  can  give  no  image.  Only 
that  which  is  can  be  reflected. 

55.  To  the  other  classes  of  objectors,  who  are  chiefly 
of  the  religious  and  orthodox  order,  the  following  considera- 
tions are  addressed. 

a.  The  apparently  new  is  not  necessarily  the  really 
new;  but  may  be  a  recovery — providential,  timely,  and 
precious — of  the  old  and  original  which  has  been  forgotten, 
perverted,  or  suppressed. 

b.  So  far  from  it  being  incumbent  on  Christians  to  accept 
the  established  in  religion  as  necessarily  the  true  and  the 
right,  the  condemnation  by  the  later  Hebrew  prophets  of 
the  established  form  of  Judaism,  as  no  longer  in  their  time 
representing  the  religion  divinely  given  through  Moses, 
imposes  on  Christians  the  duty  of  exercising,  at  the  least, 
hesitation  before  accepting  the  established  form  of  Christi- 
anity as  faithfully  representing  the  religion  divinely  given 
through  Jesus.  Christendom  has  been  exposed  for  a  far 
longer  period  than  was  Israel,  to  influences  identical  with 
those  which  caused  the  deterioration  denounced  by  the 
prophets,  namely,  the  abandonment  of  religion,  without 
prophetic  guidance  or  correction,  to  a  control  exclusively 
sacerdotal,  and  therein  to  Tradition  uninterpreted  by  Intu- 
ition. And  not  only  so,  but  on  the  first  formal  definition 
and  establishment  of  Christianity  under  Constantine, — 
himself  an  ardent  votary  of  a  sun-worship  become  grossly 
materialistic, — the  dominant  conception  was  far  more  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  sacerdotalism  than  with 
those  of  its  Founder.  There  remains,  also,  the  strong  a 
priori  improbability  that  a  system  identical  with  that  which, 
in  consequence  of  the  efforts  of  Jesus  to  purify  it,  became 

D 


34  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

his  destroyer, — a  system  exclusively  sacerdotal  and  tra- 
ditional,— should,  even  ihough  calling  itself  Christian,  prove 
a  trusty  guardian  and  faithful  expositor  of  his  doctrine. 

c.  The  belief  that  Christianity  was  indeed  divinely  in- 
tended and  adapted  to  effect  the  redemption  of  the  world 
from  engrossment  by  the  elements  merely  material  of 
existence,  to  the  recognition  and  appreciation  of  its  spirit- 
ual and  true  substance ;  and  the  fact  that  thus  far  Christi- 
anity has  signally  failed  to  accomplish  that  object, — make 
it  in  the  highest  degree  obligatory  on  Christians,  both  to 
seek  diligently  the  cause  of  such  failure,  and  to  seek  it 
elsewhere  than  in  an  original  defect  of  the  religion  itself. 

d.  According  to  numerous  indications — including  the 
express  declarations  of  Jesus  himself  —  much  that  is 
essential  to  the  proper  comprehension  and  practical  appli- 
cation of  Christian  doctrine,  was  reserved  for  future  dis- 
closure. History  has  yet  to  record  the  full  manifestation 
of  that  *'  Spirit  of  Truth,"  who  was  to  testify  of  Jesus,  and 
lead  his  followers  into  all  truth.  And  the  world  has  still  to 
see  the  Christ-ideal  so  "  lifted  up  "  and  exhibited  as,  by 
force  of  its  perfection  as  a  system  of  life  and  thought, 
irresistibly  to  "  draw  all  men  "  to  it. 

<r.  In  point  alike  of  character  and  of  time,  the  present 
period  coincides  with  that  indicated  in  numerous  pro- 
phecies, as  appointed  for  the  close  of  the  old  and  the  com- 
mencement of  a  new  era.  This  is  necessarily  an  event 
which  can  come  about  only  through  some  radical  change 
in  the  course  of  the  world's  thought.  For,  in  being, 
however  unconsciously  to  itself,  a  product  of  Mind,  the 
world  always  follows  its  thought.  The  world  has  now 
followed  its  thought  in  the  direction  of  Matter  and  blind 
force,  until,  for  the  first  time  in  man's  history,  its  re- 
cognised   intellect    has,   almost   with    one    consent,   pro- 


INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,  35 

nounced  decidedly  against  the  idea  of  God.  This,  there- 
fore, is  no  other  than  that  "  time  of  the  end  "  whereof 
the  token  should  be  the  exaltation  of  Matter  instead  of 
Spirit,  and  the  obtrusion  into  the  "  holy  place  "  of  God  and 
the  soul,  of  the  "abomination  that  maketh  desolate,"  to 
the  utter  extinction  of  the  world's  spiritual  life  and  of  the 
idea  of  a  divine  Humanity.  Now  is  "  that  wicked  one  " 
and  "  man  of  sin  " — that  is,  humanity  deliberately  self-made 
in  the  image  of  the  Not-God — definitively  revealed  ;  and 
the  gospel  of  Love  is  confessedly  replaced  by  the  gospel  of 
Force.i  Of  the  prophecies,  moreover,  which  referred  to 
the  period  in  question,  it  was  declared  that  the  words 
should  be  "  closed  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end." 
The  very  discovery  of  the  true  interpretation  of  the  mystical 
Scriptures,  would  therefore  constitute  an  indication  that  the 
"  end  is  at  hand." 

/  If  it  be,  indeed,  that  man  is  not  to  "  go  down  quick 
into  the  pit "  that  he  has  dug  for  himself,  the  emergency 
is  one  with  which  religion  alone  can  grapple.  But,  so  far 
from  the  religion  already  in  the  world  being  competent  for 
the  task,  it  has,  by  reason  of  its  own  degeneracy,  ministered 
to  the  evil.  Wherefore  only  by  a  religion  which  is  not 
that  now  in  vogue,  can  man  be  saved.  Time  alone,  of 
course,  can  determine  if,  or  by  what  means,  the  needed 
redemption  will  be  wrought.  Enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that,  from  the  religious  point  of  view,  there  is  ample 
reason  in  favour  of  according  a  serious  hearing  even  to 
doctrines  and  claims  so  strange  and  unfamiliar  to  most 
persons  as  those  herein  advanced. 

56.  Finally,  to  close  this  Introductory  Lecture,  and  to 

*  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  the  foremost  symbol  of  this  new 
gospel  should  have  for  name  the  Greek  term  for  force  ;  dynamite  being 
simply  S^afus. 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


reassure  those  who,  desirous  to  know  more,  are  yet  appre- 
hensive of  finding  themselves  in  the  issue,  like  the  patriarch 
of  old,  robbed  of  their  gods,  we  add  this  final  reflection  : — 
The  end  in  view  is  not  denial,  but  interpretation  ;  not  de- 
struction, but  reconstruction,  and  this  with  the  very  materials 
hitherto  in  use.  No  names,  personages,  or  doctrines  now 
regarded  as  divine  will  be  rejected  or  defamed.  And  even 
though  the  indubitable  fact  be  recognised,  that  the  "  one 
name  given  under  heaven  whereby  men  can  be  saved  "  has 
been  shared  by  many,  that  name  will  still  be  the  name~6r 
salvation,  and  the  symbol  of  its  triumph  will  still  be  the 
cross  of  Jesus,  even  though  borne  before  him  by,  or  in  the 
name  of,  an  Osiris,  a  Mithras,  a  Krishna,  a  Dionysos,  or  a 
Buddha,  or  any  others  who,  overcoming  by  love  the  limita- 
tions of  Matter,  have  been  faithful  to  the  death  mystically 
called  the  death  of  the  cross,  and,  attaining  thereby  the_ 
crown  of  eternal  life  for  themselves,  have  shown  to  men  the 
way  of  salvation. 

Instead,  then,  of  indulging  apprehension  on  the  score  in- 
dicated, let  heed  rather  be  given  to  the  true  moral  of  the 
story  of  all  the  Christs,  how  many  soever  they  be,  by  whom 
is  enacted  in  its  fulness,  while  yet  in  the  body,  the  divine 
drama  of  the  soul.  For,  with  Christ,  all  may,  in  their  de- 
gree, be  redeemers  alike  of  themselves  and  of  others ;  and 
with  him,  to  redeem,  they  must  themselves  first  love  and 
suflTer  and  die.  For,  as  said  the  German  mystic,  Scheffler, 
two  centuries  ago, — 

**  Though  Christ  a  thousand  times  in  Bethlehem  be  bom. 
But  not  within  thyself,  thy  soul  will  be  forlorn  : 
The  cross  of  Golgotha  thou  lookest  to  in  vain, 
Unless  within  thyself  it  be  set  up  again." 


LECTURE  THE  SECOND. 

THE  SOUL;  AND   THE  SUBSTANCE  OF  EXISTENCE, 

Part  I. 

I.  Our  theme  is  that  which  is  at  once  the  supreme  subject 
and  object  of  culture,  and  the  necessary  basis  of  all  real 
religion  and  science.  For  it  is  the  substance  of  existence, 
the  Soul,  universal  and  individual,  of  humanity.  Only  when 
we  know  the  nature  of  this,  can  we  know  what  we  ourselves 
are,  and  what  we  have  it  in  us  to  become.  For  our  poten- 
tialities necessarily  depend  upon  the  substance  whereof  we 
are  made. 

2.  This  is  not  Matter.  Wherefore  a  science  which,  in 
being  restricted  to  the  cognition  of  phenomena,  is  a  ma- 
terialistic science,  cannot  help  us  to  an  understanding  of 
ourselves.  But,  on  the  contrary,  to  such  understanding 
such  science  is,  in  its  issues,  the  greatest  enemy.  Matter 
is  not  God ;  and  in  order  to  understand  ourselves,  ii  is 
necessary  to  understand  God.  God  is  the  Substance  of 
existence.  Be  that  substance  what  it  may,  it  still  is  God ; 
and  of  God  no  other  definition  is  possible  or  desirable,  but 
all  conditions  are  satisfied  by  it.  To  know  God,  then,  is 
to  know  this  substance ;  and  to  know  this,  is  to  know  our- 
selves, and  only  by  knowing  this  can  we  know  ourselves. 

3.  Such,  and  no  other  or  less,  was  the  meaning  of  the 
famous  mystic  utterance  inscribed  on  the  temple  porch  at 
Delphi, — Know  thyselfy — a  sentence  which,  notwithstanding 


f\  ^  ^f  ':\  i' 


38  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

its  brevity,  comprehends  all  wisdom.  An  attempt,  it  is 
true,  has  been  made  to  improve  upon  it  in  the  saying, — 
Ignore  thyself,  and  learn  to  k7iow  thy  God.  But  that  which 
is  intended  in  the  latter,  is,  albeit  unsuspected  by  its  framer, 
comprised  in  the  former.  For,  as  is  known  to  the  Mystic 
— or  student  of  Substance — such  is  the  constitution  of  the 
universe,  that  man  cannot  know  himself  without  knowing 
God,  and  cannot  know  God  without  knowing  himself.  And 
as,  moreover,  only  through  the  knowledge  of  the  one  can 
the  knowledge  of  the  other  be  attained,  so  the  knowledge 
of  the  one  implies  and  involves  that  of  the  other.  For, 
as  the  Mystic  knows,  there  is  but  one  substance  alike  of 
man  and  of  God. 

4.  This  substance,  we  repeat,  is  not  Matter ;  and  a  science 
which  recognises  Matter  only,  so  far  from  ministering  to- 
wards the  desired  comprehension  of  ourselves,  is  the  deadly 
foe  of  such  comprehension.  For,  as  Matter  is,  in  the 
sense  already  described,  the  antithesis  of  Spirit,  so  is  Ma- 
terialism the  antithesis  of  the  system  under  exposition, 
namely,  of  Mysticism,  or,  as  we  propose  to  call  it.  Spiritual- 
ism. And  here  it  must  be  understood  that  we  use  this 
latter  term,  not  in  its  modern  debased  and  limited  sense, 
but  in  its  ancient  proper  purity  and  plenitude,  that  wherein 
it  signifies  the  science,  not  of  sfirits  merely,  but  of  Spirit, 
that  is,  of  God,  and  therein  of  all  Being.  Thus  adopting 
and  rehabilitating  the  term  Spiritualism,  we  define  as 
follows  : — first,  the  system  we  have  recovered  and  seek  to 
establish ;  and,  next  the  system  we  condemn  and  seek  to 
destroy. 

5.  Dealing  with  both  substance  and  phenomenon,  Spirit 
and  Matter,  the  eternal  and  the  temporal,  the  universal  and 
the  individual ;  constituting  respecting  existence  a  complete 
system  of  positive  doctrine  beyond  which  neither  mind  nor 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE  OF  EXISTENCE,  39 

heart  can  aspire ;  providing  a  rule  of  knowledge,  of  under- 
standing, of  faith,  and  of  conduct ;  derived  from  God's  own 
Self;  transmitted  and  declared  by  the  loftiest  intelligences 
in  the  worlds  human  and  celestial ;  and  in  every  respect 
confirmed  by  the  reason,  the  intuition,  and  the  experience 
of  the  earth's  representative  men,  its  sages,  saints,  seers, 
prophets,  redeemers,  and  Christs,  and  by  none  in  any  re- 
spect confuted ;— the  system  comprised  under  the  term 
Spiritualism  is  not  only  at  once  a  science,  a  philosophy,  a 
morality,  and  a  religion,  but  is  the  science,  the  philosophy, 
the  morality,  and  the  religion  of  which  all  others  are,  either 
by  aspiration  or  by  degeneration,  limitations  merely.  And 
according  to  the  degree  of  its  acceptance  by  man,  it  minis- 
ters to  his  perfection  and  satisfaction  here  and  hereafter. 

6.  But  its  antithesis :— Springing  from  the  bottomless 
pit  of  man's  lower  nature ;  having  for  its  criterion,  not  the 
conclusions  of  the  mind  or  the  experiences  of  the  soul,  but 
only  the  sensations  of  the  body ;  and  being,  therefore,  not 
a  science,  nor  a  philosophy,  nor  a  morality,  nor  a  religion, 
but  the  opposite  of  each  and  all  of  these, — the  system  com- 
prised under  the  term  Materialism  is  not  a  hmitation  of 
Spiritualism  but  is  the  negation  of  it,  and  is  to  it  what 
darkness  is  to  light,  nonentity  to  existence,  the  **  devil "  to 
God.  And  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  its  acceptance 
by  man,  it  ministers  to  his  deterioration  and  destruction 
here  and  hereafter. 

7.  Between  the  two  extremes  thus  presented,  having 
liberty  to  choose,  and  power  to  determine  his  own  destina- 
tion, man,  according  to  mystical  doctrine,  is  placed,  in 
pursuance  of  the  Divine  Idea,  of  which  creation  is  the  mani- 
festation. And  whereas,  in  implying  the  culture  of  the 
substantial,  Spiritualism,,  as  we  use  the  term,  represents 
Reality ;  and  in  implying  the  culture  of  the  phenomenal 


4D  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

only,  Materialism  represents  Illusion,  the  choice  between 
them  is  the  choice  between  the  Perfection  and  the  Negation 
of  Being. 

8.  But  whatever  the  quarrel  of  the  Spiritualist  with 
Materialism  for  its  exclusive  recognition  of  Matter,  and 
consequent  idolatry  of  form  and  appearance,  with  Matter 
itself  he  has  no  quarrel.  For,  although,  by  reason  of  its 
limitations,  the  cause  of  evil,  Matter  is  not  in  itself  evil. 
On  the  contrary,  it  comes  forth  from  God,  and  consists  of 
that  whereof  God's  Self  consists,  namely,  Spirit.  It  is 
Spirit,  by  the  force  of  the  Divine  will  subjected  to  con- 
ditions and  limitations,  and  made  exteriorly  cognisable. 

9.  Matter  is  thus  a  manifestation  of  that  which  in  its 
original  condition  is  unmanifest,  namely.  Spirit.  And  Spirit 
does  not  become  evil  by  becoming  manifest.  Evil  is  the 
result  of  the  limitation  of  Spirit  by  Matter.  For  Spirit  is 
God,  and  God  is  good.  Wherefore,  in  being  the  limitation 
of  God,  Matter  is  the  limitation  of  good.  Such  limitation 
is  essential  to  creation.  For  without  a  projection  of  Divine 
Substance,  that  is,  of  God's  Self,  into  conditions  and  hmita- 
tions,— of  Being,  which  is  absolute,  into  Existence,  which  is 
relative, — God  would  remain  inoperative,  solitary,  unmani- 
fest, and  consequently  unknown,  unhonoured,  and  unloved, 
with  all  God's  power  and  goodness  potential  merely  and 
unexercised.  For  aught  else  to  exist  than  God,  there  must 
be  that  which  is,  by  limitation,  inferior  to  God.  And  for 
this  to  exist  in  plenitude  corresponding  to  God's  infinitude, 
it  must  involve  the  idea  of  the  opposite  and  negation  of  God. 
This  is  to  say  : — Creation,  to  be  worthy  of  God,  must  in- 
volve the  idea  of  a  No-God.  God's  absolute  plenitude  in 
respect  of  all  the  qualities  and  properties  which  constitute 
Being,  must  be  contrasted  by  that  utter  deprivation  of  all 
mch  properties  and  qualities,  which  constitutes  Not-being. 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE.  41 

Between  no  narrower  extremes  can  a  Divine  creation  be 
contained.  By  no  lesser  contrast  can  God  be  fully  mani- 
fested. The  darkness  of  God's  shadow  must  correspond 
in  intensity  with  the  brightness  of  God's  light.  And  only 
through  the  full  knowledge  of  the  one,  can  the  other  be  duly 
apprehended  and  appreciated.  He  only  can  thoroughly 
appreciate  good  who  has  ample  knowledge  of  evil.  It  is 
a  profound  truth,  that  "the  greater  the  sinner,  the  greater 
the  saint."  That  exquisite  epitome  of  the  Soul's  history, 
the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  is  based  upon  the  same 
text.  Only  they  who  have  gone  out  from  God,  returning, 
know  God.  At  once  consequence  and  cause  of  the  going 
out  from  God,  Matter  is  an  indispensable  minister  to 
Creation,  without  which  and  its  limitations  Creation  were 
not 

10.  But  mere  Creation  does  not  represent  the  totality  of 
the  Divine  purpose.  And  a  creation  restricted  to  the  actual- 
ities of  Matter  would  be  the  reverse  of  a  boon  to  itself  or  a 
credit  to  God.  For  by  a  creation  thus  limited,  Deity  would 
have  shown  Itself  to  be  that  only  which  the  Materialist 
imagines  It,  namely,  Force.  Whereas  "  God  is  Love."  And 
Love  is  that,  not  which  merely  creates  and  after  brief  caress 
repudiates  and  discards ;  but  which  sustains,  redeems,  per- 
fects, and  perpetuates.  And  to  these  ends  Matter  ministers 
indispensably,  and  therein  contributes  towards  that  second 
creation  which  is  the  supplement  and  complement  of  the 
first.  This  second  creation  is  called  Redemption,  and  in  it 
the  Creator  finds  His  recognition  and  glorification,  and  man 
his  perfection  and  perpetuation.  For  Redemption  is  the 
full  compensation,  both  to  God  and  to  the  universe,  for 
all  that  is  undergone  and  suffered  by  and  through  Creation. 
And  it  is  brought  about  by  the  return  from  Matter  of 
Spirit,  to  its  original  condition  of  purity,  but  individuated 


42 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


and  enriched  by  the  results  of  all  that  has  been  gained 
through  the  processes  to  which  it  has  been  subjected; — 
results  which,  but  for  Matter,  could  not  have  been.  Matter 
is  thus  indispensable  to  the  processes  both  of  creation  and 
of  perfection.  For  that  through  which  we  are  made  per- 
fect is  experience,  or  suffering ;  and  we  are  only  really 
alive  and  exist  in  so  far  as  we  have  felt.  Now,  of  this 
divine  and  indispensable  ministry  of  experience.  Matter  is 
the  agent. 

11.  Such  being  for  the  Spiritualist,  who  also  is  Mystic 
and  not  Phenomenalist  merely,  the  origin,  nature,  and  final 
cause  of  Matter,  he  has  with  it  no  ground  of  quarrel.  But 
recognising  it  as  intended  not  to  conceal  but  to  reveal 
God,  and  to  minister  to  man's  creation  in  the  image  of 
God,  he  regards  the  material  universe  as  a  divine  revela- 
tion, and  seeks,  by  humble,  reverent,  and  loving  analysis  of 
it,  to  learn  both  it  and  God,  and  thus  to  make  it  minister  to 
his  own  perfection.  '*  Imitation,"  it  has  been  said,  and 
truly,  "  is  the  sincerest  flattery."  And  man  best  honours 
God  when  he  seeks  to  be  like  God.  In  this  pursuit  it  is 
that,  following  his  intuition  of  Spirit,  he  ascends  from  the 
exterior  sphere  of  Matter  and  appearance — that  sphere 
which,  as  the  outermost  of  man's  system,  constitutes  the 
border-land  between  him  and  negation,  and  is  therefore 
next  neighbour  to  that  which,  mystically  is  called  the  devil 
— to  the  interior  sphere  of  Spirit  and  Reality,  where  God 
subsists  in  His  plenitude.  And  so,  from  Nature's  Seeming 
he  attains  to  the  cognition  at  once  of  God's  and  his  own 
Being. 

12.  The  system  by  the  knowledge  and  observance  of 
which  these  supreme  ends  are  attained,  and  which  is  now 
for  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history  openly  disclosed, 
has  constituted  the  hidden  basis  of  all  the  world's  divine 


Lect.  II.]     THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE,  43 

revelations  and  religions.  For  from  the  beginning  there 
has  been  one  divine  Revelation,  constantly  re-revealed  in 
whole  or  in  part,  and  representing  the  actual  eternal  nature 
of  existence;  and  this  in  such  measure  as  to  enable  those 
who  receive  it  to  make  of  their  own  existence  the  highe«:t 
and  best  that  can  possibly  be  imagined  or  desired.  Knov/n 
by  various  names,  delivered  at  various  places  and  periods, 
and  finding  expression  under  various  symbols,  this  revela- 
tion has  constituted  a  Gospel  of  Salvation  for  all  who  have 
accepted  it,  enabling  them  to  escape  the  limitations  of 
Matter  and  return  to  the  condition  of  pure  Spirit,  and 
therein  to  attain  immunity,  not  merely,  as  is  ordinarily  de- 
sired, from  the  consequences  of  sin,  but  from  the  liability 
to  sin.  And,  as  history  shows,  wherever  it  has  succeeded 
in  obtaining  full  manifestation,  Materialism,  with  all  its  foul 
brood,  has  fled  discomfited,  like  Python,  the  mighty  Serpent 
of  Darkness,  before  the  darts  of  Phoibos,  to  make  its  dwell- 
ing in  the  caverns  and  secret  places  of  earth. 

Part  II. 

13.  Coming,  then,  to  the  proper  subject  of  this  Lecture, 
we  will  now  treat  of  the  Soul,  universal  and  individual, 
commencing  with  the  latter. 

The  soul,  or  permanent  element  in  man,  is  first  en- 
gendered in  the  lowest  forms  of  organic  life,  from  which 
it  works  upwards,  through  plants  and  animals,  to  man.  Its 
earliest  manifestation  is  in  the  ethereal  or  fluidic  material 
called  the  astral  body ;  and  it  is  not  something  added  to 
that  body,  but  is  generated  in  it  by  the  polarisation  of 
the  elements.  Once  generated,  it  enters  into  and  passes 
through  many  bodies,  and  continues  to  do  so  until  finally 
perfected  or  finally  dissipated  and  lost     Th«  process  of  its 


THE  PERFECT   WAY. 


generation  is  gradual.  The  magnetic  forces  of  innumerable 
elements  are  directed  and  focused  to  one  centre ;  and 
streams  of  electric  power  pass  along  all  their  convergent 
poles  to  that  centre,  until  they  create  there  a  fire,  a  kind 
of  crystallisation  of  magnetic  force.  This  is  the  Soul,  the 
sacred  fire  of  the  hearth,  called  by  the  Greeks  Hestia,  or 
Vesta,  which  must  be  kept  burning  continually.  The 
astral  and  fluidic  body,  its  immediate  matrix, — called  also 
the  perisoul^ — and  the  material  or  fixed  body  put  forth  by 
this,  may  fall  away  and  disappear ;  but  the  soul,  once  be- 
gotten and  made  an  individual,  is  immortal,  until  its  own 
perverse  will  extinguishes  it.  For  the  fire  of  the  soul  must 
be  kept  alive  by  the  Divine  Breath,  if  it  is  to  endure  for 
ever.  It  must  converge,  not  diverge.  If  it  diverge,  it  will 
be  dissipated.  The  end  of  progress  is  unity ;  the  end  of 
degradation  is  division.  The  soul,  therefore,  which  ascends, 
tends  more  and  more  to  union  with  and  absorption  into 
the  Divine. 

14.  The  clearest  understanding  may  be  obtained  of  the 
soul  by  defining  it  as  the  Divine  Idea.  Before  anything  can 
exist  outwardly  and  materially,  the  idea  of  it  must  subsist  in 
the  Divine  Mind.  The  soul,  therefore,  may  be  understood 
to  be  divine  and  everlasting  in  its  nature.  But  it  does  not 
act  directly  upon  Matter,  It  is  put  forth  by  the  Divine 
Mind ;  but  the  body  is  put  forth  by  the  astral,  or  "  fiery," 
body.  As  Spirit,  on  the  celestial  plane,  is  the  parent  of 
the  soul,  so  Fire,  on  the  material  plane,  begets  the  body. 
The  plane  on  which  the  celestials  and  creatures  touch  each 
other,  is  the  astral  plane. 

15.  Th2  soul,  being  in  its  nature  eternal,  passes  from  one 
form  to  another  until,  in  its  highest  stage,  it  polarises  suf- 
ficiently to  receive  the  spirit  It  is  in  all  organised  things. 
Nothing  of  an  organic  nature  exists  without  a  soul.     It  is 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE.  45 

the  individual^  and    perishes  finally  if  uninformed   of  the 
spirit. 

16.  This  becomes  readily  intelligible  if  we  conceive  of 
God  as  of  a  vast  spiritual  body  constituted  of  many  indi- 
vidual elements,  all  having  but  one  will  and  therefore 
being  one.  This  condition  of  oneness  with  the  Divine 
Will  and  Being,  constitutes  what,  in  Hindii  mysticism,  is 
called  the  celestial  Nirvana.  But  though  becoming  pure 
Spirit,  or  God,  the  individual  retains  his  individuality.  So 
that,  instead  of  all  being  finally  merged  in  the  One,  the  One 
becomes  Many.  Thus  does  God  become  millions.  "  God 
is  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  kingdoms,  and  tongues ; 
and  the  sound  of  God  is  as  the  sound  of  many  waters." 

17.  The  Celestial  Substance  is  continually  individual- 
ising Itself,  that  It  may  build  Itself  up  into  One  perfect 
Individual.  Thus  is  the  Circle  of  Life  accomplished,  and 
thus  its  ends  meet  the  one  with  the  other.  But  the  de- 
graded soul,  on  the  other  hand,  must  be  conceived  of  as 
dividing  more  and  more,  until,  at  length,  it  is  scattered  into 
many,  and  ceases  to  be  as  an  individual,  becoming,  as  it 
were,  split,  and  broken  up,  and  dispersed  into  many  pieces. 
This  is  the  Nirvana  of  annihilation.^ 

18.  The  Planet  must  not  be  looked  upon  as  something 
apart  from  its  oiTspring.  It,  also,  is  a  Person,  fourfold  in 
nature,  and  having  four  orders  of  offspring,  of  which  orders 
man  alone  comprises  the  whole.  Of  its  offspring  some  lie 
in  the  astral  region  only,  and  are  but  twofold  ;  some  in  the 
watery  region,  and  are  threefold ;  and  some  in  the  human 
region,  who  are  fourfold.  The  metallic  and  magnetic  en- 
velopes of  the  planet  are  its  body  and  perisoul.  The 
organic  region  comprises  its  soul ;  and  the  human  region 
its  spirit,  or  divine  part.     When  it  was  but  metallic  it  had 

>  See  Appendices^  No.  IV. 


46  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

no  individualised  souL  When  it  was  but  organic  it  had  no 
divine  spirit.  But  when  man  was  made  in  the  image  of 
God,  then  was  its  spirit  breathed  into  its  souL  In  the 
metallic  region  soul  is  diffused  and  unpolarised  ;  and  the 
metals,  therefore,  are  not  individual ;  and  not  being  indi- 
vidual, their  transmutation  does  not  involve  transmigra- 
tion. But  the  plants  and  animals  are  individual,  and  their 
essential  element  transmigrates  and  progresses.  And  man 
has  also  a  divine  spirit ;  and  so  long  as  he  is  man — that 
is  truly  human — he  cannot  redescend  into  the  body  of  an 
animal  or  any  creature  in  the  sphere  beneath  him,  since 
that  would  be  an  indignity  to  the  spirit  But  if  he  lose 
his  spirit,  and  become  again  animal,  he  may  descend,  and 
— disintegrating — become  altogether  gross  and  horrible. 
This  is  the  end  of  persistently  evil  men.  For  God  is  not 
the  God  of  creeping  things  ;  but  Impurity  —personified  by 
the  Hebrews  as  Baalzebub— is  their  god.  And  there  were 
none  of  these  in  the  Age  of  Gold,  neither  shall  there  be 
any  when  the  earth  is  fully  purged.  Man's  own  wickedness 
is  the  creator  of  his  evil  beasts.^ 

19.  The  soul  is  not  astral  fluid,  but  is  manifest  by  astral 
fluid.  For  the  soul  itself  is,  like  the  idea,  invisible  and 
intangible.  This  may  be  best  seen  by  following  out  the 
genesis  of  any  particular  action.  For  instance,  the  stroke  of 
the  pen  on  paper  is  the  phenomenon,  that  is,  the  outer 
body.  The  action  which  produces  the  stroke,  is  the  astral 
body  ;  and,  though  physical,  it  is  not  a  thing,  but  a  tran- 
sition or  medium  between  the  result  and  its  cause, — between, 
that  is,  the  stroke  and  the  idea.  The  idea,  manifested  in 
the  act,  is  not  physical,  but  mental,  and  is  the  soul  of  the 
act  But  even  this  is  not  the  first  cause.  For  the  idea  is 
put  forth  by  the  will,  and  this  is  the  spirit.  Thus,  we  will 
^  G)mp.  Bhagavat-Gitay  1.  xvL 


Lect.  II.]   the  substance   of  existence,  47 

an  idea,  as  God  wills  the  Macrocosm.  The  potential  body, 
its  immediate  result,  is  the  astral  body ;  and  the  phenomenal 
body,  or  ultimate  form,  is  the  effect  of  motion  and  heat.  If 
we  could  arrest  motion,  we  should  have  as  the  result,  fire. 
But  fire  itself  also  is  material,  since,  like  the  earth  or  body, 
it  is  visible  to  the  outer  sense.  It  has,  however,  many 
degrees  of  subtlety.  The  astral,  or  odic^  substance,  there- 
fore, is  not  the  soul  itself,  but  is  the  medium  or  manifestor 
of  the  soul,  as  the  act  is  of  the  idea. 

20.  To  pursue  this  explanation  a  little  further.  The  act 
is  a  condition  of  the  idea,  in  the  same  way  as  fire,  or  incan- 
descence, is  the  condition  of  any  given  object.  Fire  is,  then, 
the  representative  of  that  transitional  medium  termed  the 
Astral  body ;  as  Water — the  result  of  the  combined  inter- 
action of  Wisdom  the  Mother,  or  Oxygen,  and  Justice  the 
Father,  or  Hydrogen — is  of  the  Soul.  Air,  which  is  pro- 
duced by  the  mixture — not  combination — of  Wisdom  and 
Force  (Azoth),  represents  the  Spirit — One  in  operation,  but 
ever  Twain  in  constitution.  Earth  is  not,  properly  speaking, 
an  element  at  all.  She  is  the  result  of  the  Water  and  the 
Air,  fused  and  crystallised  by  the  action  of  the  Fire ;  and 
her  rocks  and  strata  are  either  aqueous  or  igneous.  Fire, 
the  real  maker  of  the  body,  is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  mode  and 
condition,  and  not  a  true  element.  The  only  real,  true,  and 
permanent  elements,  therefore,  are  Air  and  Water,  which 
are,  respectively,  as  Spirit  and  Soul,  Will  and  Idea,  Father 
and  Mother.  And  out  of  these  are  made  all  the  elements 
of  earth  by  the  aid  of  the  condition  of  Matter,  which  is, 
interchangeably,  Heat  and  Motion.  Wisdom,  Justice,  and 
Force,  or  Oxygen,  Hydrogen,  and  Azote,  are  the  three  out 
of  which  the  two  true  elements  are  produced. 

21.  Material  body,  astral  fluid  or  sideral  body,  soul,  and 
spirit,  all  these  are  one  in  then:  essence.     And  the  first 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


three  are  dlfferentialities  of  polarisation.  The  fourth  is 
God's  Self.  When  the  Gods — the  Elohim  or  Powers  o\ 
the  Hebrews — put  forth  the  world,  they  put  forth  substance 
with  its  three  potentialities,  but  all  in  the  condition  ol 
"odic"  light.  This  substantial  light  is  called  sometimes 
the  sideral  or  astral  body,  sometimes  the  perisoul,  and  this 
because  it  is  both.  It  is  that  which  makes,  and  that  which 
becomes.  It  is  fire,  or  the  anima  bruta  (as  distinguished 
from  the  Divine),  out  of  and  by  means  of  which  body  and 
soul  are  generated.  It  is  the  fiery  manifestation  of  the  soul, 
the  magnetic  factor  of  the  body.  It  is  space,  it  is  substance, 
it  is  foundation ;  so  that  from  it  proceed  the  gases  and  the 
minerals,  which  are  unindividuated,  and  from  it  also  the 
organic  world  which  is  individuated.  But  man  it  could 
not  make ;  for  man  is  fourfold,  and  of  the  divine  ether,  the 
province  assigned  by  the  Greeks  to  Zeus,  the  father  of 
Gods  and  men. 

22.  The  outer  envelope  of  the  macrocosm  and  the  micro- 
cosm alike,  the  Earth  or  body,  is  thus  in  reality  not  elemen- 
tal at  all,  but  is  a  compound  of  the  other  three  elements. 
Its  fertility  is  due  to  the  water,  and  its  transmutory  or 
chemical  power  to  the  fire.  The  water  corresponds  to  the 
soul, — the  "  best  principle  "  of  Pindar, — while  fire  is  to  the 
body  what  spirit  is  to  the  soul.  As  the  soul  is  without 
divinity  and  life  until  vivified  by  the  spirit,  so  the  body — 
earth  or  Matter — is  without  physical  life  in  the  absence  of 
fire.  No  Matter  is  really  dead  Matter,  for  the  fire  element 
is  in  all  Matter.  But  Matter  would  be  dead,  would  cease, 
that  is,  to  exist  as  Matter,  if  motion  were  suspended,  which 
is,  if  there  were  no  fire.  For,  as  wherever  there  is  motion 
there  is  heat,  and  consequently  fire,  and  motion  is  the 
condition  of  Matter ;  so  without  fire  would  be  no  Matter. 
In  other  words.  Matter  is  a  mode  of  life. 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE,  41 

Part  III. 

23.  We  come  now  to  the  history  and  progress  of  th€ 
soul.  Souls,  we  have  said,  work  upwards  from  plants  and 
animals  to  man.  In  man  they  attain  their  perfection  and 
the  power  to  dispense  altogether  with  material  bodies. 
Their  ability  to  do  this  is  the  cause  and  consequence  o\ 
their  perfection.  And  it  is  the  attainment  of  this  that  is 
the  object  of  the  culture  of  the  soul — the  object,  that  is,  of 
religion.  Spirit  alone  is  good,  is  God.  Matter  is  that 
whereby  spirit  is  limited,  and  is,  therein,  the  cause  of  evil; 
for  evil  is  the  limitation  of  good.  Wherefore  to  escape 
from  Matter  and  its  limitations,  and  return  to  the  condition 
of  spirit,  is  to  be  superior  to  the  liability  to  evil. 

24.  Formerly  the  way  of  escape  for  human  souls  was 
more  open  than  now,  and  the  path  clearer.  Because, 
although  ignorance  of  intellectual  things  abounded,  especi- 
ally among  the  poorer  folk,  yet  the  knowledge  of  divine 
things,  and  the  light  of  faith,  were  stronger  and  purer. 
The  anima  hiiia^  or  earthly  mind,  was  less  strongly  defined 
and  fixed,  so  that  the  anima  divifia,  or  heavenly  mind,  sub- 
sisted in  more  open  conditions.  Wherefore  the  souls  of 
those  ages  of  the  world,  not  being  enchained  to  earth  as 
they  now  are,  were  enabled  to  pass  more  quickly  through 
their  avatars  ;  and  but  few  incarnations  sufficed  where  now 
many  are  necessary.  For  in  these  days  the  mind's  ignor- 
ance is  weighted  by  materialism,  instead  of  being  lightened 
by  faith  ;  and  the  soul  is  sunk  to  earth  by  love  of  the  body, 
by  atheism,  and  by  excessive  care  for  the  things  of  sense. 
And  being  crushed  thereby,  it  lingers  long  in  the  atmosphere 
of  earth,  seeking  many  fresh  lodgments,  and  so  multiplies 
bodies,  the  circumstances  of  each  of  which  are  influenced  by 
the  use  made  of  the  previous  one. 

B 


50  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

25.  For  every  man  makes  his  own  fate,  and  nothing  is 
truer  than  that  Character  is  Destiny.  It  is  by  their  own 
hands  that  the  hnes  of  some  are  cast  in  pleasant  places,  of 
some  in  vicious,  and  of  some  in  virtuous  ones,  so  that  there 
is  nothing  arbitrary  or  unjust.  But  in  what  manner  soever 
a  soul  conduct  itself  in  one  incarnation,  by  that  conduct,  by 
that  order  of  thought  and  habit,  it  builds  for  itself  its  destiny 
in  a  future  incarnation.  For  the  soul  is  enchained  by  these 
pre-natal  influences,  which  irresistibly  force  it  into  a  new 
nativity  at  the  time  of  such  conjunction  of  planets  and  signs 
as  oblige  it  into  certain  courses  and  incline  it  strongly  thereto- 
But  if  the  soul  oppose  itself  to  these  influences  and  adopt 
some  other  course, — as  it  well  may  to  its  own  real  advantage, 
— it  brings  itself  under  a  "  curse  "  for  such  period  as  the 
planets  and  ruling  signs  of  that  incarnation  have  power. 
But  though  this  means  misfortune  in  a  worldly  sense,  it  is 
true  fortune  for  the  soul  in  a  spiritual  sense.  For  the  soul 
is  therein  striving  to  atone  and  make  restitution  for  the  evil 
done  in  its  own  past ;  and  thus  striving,  it  advances  towards 
higher  and  happier  conditions.  Wherefore  man  is,  strictly, 
his  own  creator,  in  that  he  makes  himself  and  his  conditions, 
according  to  the  tendencies  he  encourages.  The  process  of 
such  reformation,  however,  may  be  a  long  one.  For, 
tendencies  encouraged  for  ages  cannot  be  cured  in  a  single 
life-time,  but  may  require  ages  for  their  cure.  And  herein 
is  a  reflection  to  make  us  as  patient  towards  the  faults  of 
others,  as  it  ought  to  make  us  impatient  of  our  own. 

26.  The  doctrine  of  the  soul  is  embodied  in  the  parable 
of  the  Talents.  Into  the  soul  of  the  individual  is  breathed 
the  Spirit  of  God,  divine,  pure,  and  without  blemish.  It  is 
God.  And  the  individual  has,  in  his  earth-life,  to  nourish 
that  Spirit  and  feed  it  as  a  flame  with  oil.  When  we  put 
oil  into  a  lamp,  the  essence  passes  into  and  becomes  flame. 


Lect.  II.]   THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE.  51 

So  is  it  with  the  soul  of  him  who  nourishes  the  Spirit.  It 
grows  gradually  pure  and  becomes  Spirit.  By  this  spirit 
the  body  is  enlightened  as  a  lamp  by  the  flame  within  it. 
Now,  the  flame  is  not  the  oil,  for  the  oil  may  be  there 
without  the  light ;  yet  the  flame  cannot  be  there  without  the 
oil.  The  body,  then,  is  the  lamp-case,  into  which  the  oil  is 
poured ;  and  this,  the  oil,  is  the  soul,  a  fine  and  combustible 
fluid ;  and  the  flame  is  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  is  not  born 
of  the  oil,  but  is  communicated  by  the  hand  of  God.  We 
may  quench  this  Spirit  utterly,  and  thenceforward  we  shall 
have  no  immortality  ;  but  when  the  lamp-case  breaks,  the 
oil  will  be  spilt  on  the  earth,  and  a  few  fumes  will  for  a  time 
arise  from  it,  and  then  it  will  expend  itself,  leaving  at  last 
no  trace.  Thus,  as  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents,  where 
God  has  given  five  talents,  man  pays  back  ten ;  or  he  pays 
back  nothing,  and  perishes. 

27.  Some  oils  are  finer  and  more  combustible  than 
others.  The  finest  is  that  of  the  soul  of  the  poet ;  and  in 
fuch  a  medium  the  flame  of  God's  Spirit  burns  more  clearly 
and  powerfully  and  brightly,  so  that  sometimes  mortal  eyes 
can  hardly  endure  its  lustre.  Of  such  a  one  the  soul  is  filled 
with  holy  rapture.  He  sees  as  no  other  man  sees ;  and  the 
atmosphere  about  him  is  enkindled.  His  soul  becomes 
transmuted  into  flame ;  and  when  the  lamp  of  his  body  is 
shattered,  his  flame  mounts  and  soars,  and  is  united  to  the 
Divine  Fire.* 

Part  IV. 

28.  We  come  to  treat  of  that  from  which  the  soul  of  the 
individual  proceeds,  and  of  which  it  consists.  For,  as  al- 
ready observed,  it  is  upon  the  nature  of  this  that  our  poten- 

'  See  Appendices,  No.  IX. 


THE  PREFECT  WAY, 


tialities  depend.  Let  us,  ihen,  for  a  while,  ignoring  the 
universe  of  things^  cast  our  minds  backward  to  the  point 
wherein,  prior  to  Existence,  substance  necessarily  subsists 
alone  and  undifferendate,  and  pure  Being  is  all. 

29.  That  which  subsists  before  the  beginning  of  things, 
is  necessarily  the  potentiality  of  things.  This  necessarily  is 
homogeneous.  As  the  Substance  of  things,  and  pervaded 
by  Life,  it  is  Living  Substance ;  and  being  homogeneous,  it 
is  One.  But,  consisting  of  Life  and  Substance,  it  is  Twain. 
Constituting  the  life  and  substance  of  Persons,  it  is  neces- 
sarily personal ;  and  being  self-subsistent,  infinite,  eternal, 
and  personal,  it  is  God ;  and  God  is  Twain  in  One.  By 
virtue  of  the  potency  of  this  duality,  God  subsists  and 
operates.  And  every  monad  of  God's  substance  possesses 
the  potency  of  Twain.  Wherever  are  Life  and  Substance, 
there  is  God.  Wherever  God  is,  there  is  Being  ;  and  wher- 
ever Being  is,  there  is  God ;  for  God  is  Being.  The  uni- 
verse is  Existence,  that  is,  God  manifested.  Prior  to  the 
universe,  God  subsisted  unmanifest.  Subsistence  and 
Existence,  these  are  the  two  terms  which  denote  respec- 
tively God  in  God's  Self,  and  God  in  Creation. 

30.  Before  the  beginning  of  things,  the  great  and  in- 
visible God  alone  subsisted.  There  was  no  motion,  nor 
darkness,  nor  space,  nor  matter.  There  was  no  other  than 
God,  the  One,  the  Uncreate,  the  Self-subsistent,  Who  sub- 
sisted as  invisible  Light. 

31.  God  is  Spirit,  God  is  Life,  God  is  Mind,  God  is  the 
Subject  and  Object  of  mind:  at  once  the  thought,  the 
thinker,  and  that  which  is  thought  of  God  is  positive  and 
personal  Being  ;  the  potential  Essence  of  all  that  is  or  can 
be  ;  the  one  and  only  Self;  that  alone  in  the  universe  which 
has  the  right  to  say  "  I."  Wherever  a  Presence  is,  there  is 
God ;  and  where  God  is  not,  is  no  Being. 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE  OF  EXISTENCE,  53 

32.  In  God  subsist,  in  absolute  plenitude  and  perfect 
equilibrium,  all  qualities  and  properties  which,  opposed  to 
and  yet  corresponding  with  each  other,  constitute  the  ele- 
ments masculine  and  feminine  of  existence.  God  is  perfect 
will  and  perfect  love,  perfect  knowledge  and  perfect  wisdom, 
perfect  intelligence  and  perfect  sympathy,  perfect  justice 
and  perfect  mercy,  perfect  power  and  perfect  goodness. 
And  from  God,  as  original  and  abstract  humanity,  proceeds 
the  derived  and  concrete  humanity  which,  when  perfected, 
manifests  God.  God  is  light,  truth,  order,  harmony,  reason; 
and  God's  works  are  illumination,  knowledge,  understanding, 
love,  and  sanity.  And  inasmuch  as  anything  is  absolute, 
strong,  perfect,  true,  insomuch  it  resembles  God  and  is  God. 
Perfect  and  complete  from  eternity,  God  is  beyond  possi- 
bility of  change  or  development.  Development  pertains 
only  to  the  manifestation  of  God  in  creation.  As  God  is 
one,  so  is  God's  method  one,  and  without  variation  or 
shadow  of  turning.  God  works  from  within  outwards  ;  for 
God's  kingdom  is  within,  being  interior,  invisible,  mystic, 
spiritual.  And  God's  Spirits,  the  Spirits  of  the  Invisible 
Light,  are  Seven  : — the  spirit  of  wisdom,  the  spirit  of  under- 
standing, the  spirit  of  counsel,  the  spirit  of  power,  the  spirit 
of  knowledge,  the  spirit  of  righteousness,  and  the  spirit  of 
divine  awfulness.  These  are  the  Powers,  or  Elohim,  of 
God.  They  are  co-equal  and  co-eternal.  Each  has  in  it- 
self the  nature  of  the  whole.  Each  is  a  perfect  entity.  Of 
them  all  is  the  whole  of  God's  substance  pervaded.  And 
in  their  individual  manifestations  they  are  the  Gods. 

33.  In  God,  before  the  beginning,  all  things  visible  and 
invisible  were  potential ;  and  of  God's  fulness  have  we  all 
received.  Before  the  beginning  negation  was  not  There 
was  no  other  than  God. 

34.  As  Living  Substance,  God  is  One.    As   Life  and 


54  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Substance,  God  is  Twain.  He  is  the  Life,  and  She  is  the 
Substance.  And  to  speak  of  Her,  is  to  speak  of  Woman  in 
her  supremest  mode.  She  is  not  "  Nature  ; "  Nature  is  the 
manifestation  of  the  qualities  and  properties  with  which, 
under  suffusion  of  the  Life  and  Spirits  of  God,  Substance  is 
endowed.  She  is  not  Matter ;  but  is  the  potential  essence 
of  Matter.  She  is  not  Space  ;  but  is  the  within  of  space, 
its  fourth  and  original  dimension,  that  from  which  all  pro- 
ceed, the  containing  element  of  Deity,  and  of  which  space 
is  the  manifestation.  As  original  Substance,  the  substance 
of  all  other  substances,  She  underlies  that  whereof  all  things 
are  made ;  and,  like  life  and  mind,  is  interior,  mystical, 
spiritual,  and  discernible  only  when  manifested  in  operation. 
In  the  Unmanifest,  She  is  the  Great  Deep,  or  Ocean,  of 
Infinitude,  the  Principium  or  Arche,  the  heavenly  Sophia, 
or  Wisdom,  Who  encircles  and  embraces  all  things;  of 
Whom  are  dimension  and  form  and  appearance ;  Whose  veil 
is  the  astral  fluid,  and  Who  is.  Herself,  the  substance  of  all 
souls. 

35.  On  the  plane  of  manifestation,  as  the  Soul  macro- 
cosmic  and  microcosmic.  She  appears  as  the  Daughter, 
Mother,  and  Spouse  of  God.  Exhibiting  in  a  perfect 
Humanity  the  fulness  of  the  life  she  has  received  of  God, 
she  is  mystically  styled  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  in 
token  of  her  Divine  Motherhood  and  heavenly  derivation 
and  attributes,  is  represented  as  clad  in  celestial  azure,  and 
bearing  in  Her  arms  the  infant  Man,  in  whom,  regenerate 
and  reborn  of  Her  own  immaculate  substance,  the  universe 
IS  redeemed.  In  Her  subsist  inherently  all  the  feminine 
qualities  of  the  Godhead.  As  Venus,  the  brightest  of  the 
mystic  Seven  who  represent  the  Elohim  of  God,  She  corres- 
ponds to  the  third,  the  spirit  of  counsel,  in  that  counsel  is 
wisdom,  and  love  and  wisdom  are  one.     Thus,  in  mystical 


Lect.  II.]   THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE.  55 

art  She  is  portrayed  as  Aphrodite  the  Sea-Queen,  and  Mary 
the  Star  of  the  Sea,  and  as  the  soul  from  whose  pure  intui- 
tion of  God  proceeds  the  perfected  man.  Correspondingly, 
in  mystical  science  She  appears  as  Sodium,  or  salt,  whose 
ray  in  the  spectrum,  as  the  place  of  Venus  among  the 
planets,  is  the  third,  whose  light  is  the  brightest,  and  whose 
colour  is  the  yellow.  Among  the  metals,  copper  is  dedi- 
cated to  Venus.  For  of  copper  the  crystals  are  the  deep 
sea-blue.  And,  inasmuch  as  She,  as  love,  is  the  enlightener, 
and  as  salt  the  purifier,  and  the  pure  in  heart  see  God,  so 
is  its  sulphate  a  balm  for  ailing  eyes.  As  Pallas  or  Minerva, 
She  is  "  Our  Lady  of  Victories,"  adversary  of  demons  and 
dragons,  wearing  the  panoply  of  heaven,  and  the  insignia  of 
wisdom  and  righteous  war.  As  Isis  or  Artemis,  She  is  pre- 
eminently the  Initiator,  and  the  Virgin  clothed  in  white, 
standing  on  the  Moon,  and  ruling  the  waters. 

36.  Also  is  She  "  Mother  of  Sorrows,"  whose  bitterness 
pervades  all  things  below;  and  only  by  her  salting  with 
affliction,  purification  by  trial,  and  purchase  of  wisdom  by 
dear-bought  experience,  is  the  perfection  that  is  of  Her 
attained.  Nevertheless  She  is  also  "  Mother  of  Joys," 
since  Her  light  is  gilded  by  the  solar  rays  ;  and  of  Her 
pain  and  travail  as  the  soul  in  the  individual,  comes  the 
regeneration  of  Her  children.  And  She  is  for  them  no 
more  a  sea  of  bitterness  when  once  their  warfare  with  evil 
has  been  accomplished ;  for  then  is  She  "  our  Lady,  Glory 
of  the  Church  triumphant."     Thus  in  the  Microcosm. 

37.  In  the  Macrocosm  She  is  that  Beginning  or  Wisdom 
wherein  God  makes  the  heavens  and  the  earth ;  the  sub- 
stantial waters  upon  whose  face  He,  the  Energising  Will, 
moves  at  every  fresh  act  of  creation,  and  the  ark  or  womb 
from  which  all  creatures  proceed.  And  it  is  through  the 
*'  gathering  together,"  or  coagulation,  of  Her  "  waters,"  that 


56  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

the  "  dry  land  "  of  the  earth  or  body,  which  is  Matter,  ap- 
pears. For  She  is  that  spiritual  substance  which,  polaris- 
ing interiorly,  is — in  the  innermost — God  ;  and  coagulating 
exteriorly,  becomes — in  the  outermost — Matter.  And  She, 
again,  it  is,  who  as  the  soul  of  humanity,  regaining  full  in- 
tuition of  God,  overwhelms  the  earth  with  a  flood  of  Her 
waters,  destroying  the  evil  and  renewing  the  good,  and 
bearing  unharmed  on  Her  bosom  the  elect  few  who  have 
suffered  Her  to  build  them  up  in  the  true  image  of  God. 
Thus  to  these  is  She  "  Mother  of  the  Living." 

38.  And  as,  on  the  plane  physical,  man  is  not  Man — 
but  only  Boy,  rude,  froward,  and  solicitous  only  to  exert 
and  exhibit  his  strength — until  the  time  comes  for  him  to 
recognise,  appreciate,  and  appropriate  Her  as  the  woman  ; 
so  on  the  plane  spiritual,  man  is  not  Man — but  only  Ma- 
terialist, having  all  the  deficiencies,  intellectual  and  moral, 
the  term  implies — until  the  time  comes  for  him  to  re- 
cognise, appreciate,  and  appropriate  Her  as  the  Soul,  and, 
counting  Her  as  his  better  half,  to  renounce  his  own  ex- 
clusively centrifugal  impulsions,  and  yield  to  Her  centripetal 
attractions.  Doing  this  with  all  his  heart,  he  finds  that 
She  makes  him,  in  the  highest  sense,  Man.  For,  adding 
to  his  intellect  Her  intuition.  She  endows  him  with  that 
true  manhood,  the  manhood  of  Mind.  Thus,  by  Her  aid 
obtaining  cognition  of  substance,  and  from  the  phenomenal 
fact  ascending  to  the  essential  idea,  he  weds  understanding 
to  knowledge,  and  attains  to  certitude  of  truth,  completing 
thereby  the  system  of  his  thought 

39.  Rejecting,  as  this  age  has  done,  the  soul  and  her  in- 
tuition, man  excludes  from  the  system  of  his  humanity  the 
very  idea  of  the  woman,  and  renounces  his  proper  manhood. 
An  Esau,  he  sells,  and  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  his  birthright, 
the  faculty  of  intellectual  comprehension.     Cut  oflf  by  his 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE.  57 

own  act  from  the  intuition  of  spirit,  he  takes  Matter  for 
Substance;  and  sharing  the  Hmitations  of  Matter,  loses 
the  capacity  for  knowledge.  Calling  the  creature  thus 
self-mutilated,  Man,  the  age  declares  by  the  unanimous 
voice  of  its  exponents,  that  Man  has  no  instrument  of 
knowledge,  and  can  know  nothing  with  certainty,  excepting 
— for  it  is  not  consistent  even  in  this — that  he  can  know 
nothing.  Of  this  the  age  is  quite  sure,  and  accordingly — 
complacent  in  its  discovery — styles  itself  Agnostic.  And, 
as  if  expressly  to  demonstrate  the  completeness  of  its 
deprivation  in  respect  of  all  that  goes  to  the  making  of 
Man,  it  has  recourse  to  devices  the  most  nefarious  and 
inhuman  on  the  pretext  of  thereby  obtaining  knowledge. 

40.  Whereas,  had  but  the  soul  received  the  recognition 
and  honour  her  due,  no  pretext  had  remained  for  the  abo- 
minations of  a  science  become  wholly  materialistic.  For, 
as  the  substance  and  framer  of  all  things,  she  necessarily  is 
competent  for  the  interpretation  of  all  things.  All  that  she 
requires  of  man,  is  that  she  be  duly  tended  and  heeded. 
No  summit  then  will  be  too  lofty  of  goodness  or  truth,  for 
man  to  reach  by  her  aid.  For,  recognised  in  her  plenitude, 
she  reveals  herself  in  her  plenitude ;  and  her  fulness  is  the 
fulness  of  God. 

Part  V. 

41.  The  wise  of  old,  who,  exalting  the  Woman  in  them- 
selves, attained  to  full  intuition  of  God,  failed  not  to  make 
recognition  of  Her  in  the  symbols  whereby  they  denoted 
Deity.  Hence  the  significance  of  the  combination,  uni- 
versal from  the  first,  of  the  symbols  I,  O,  the  unit  and  the 
cipher,  in  the  names  designative  of  Diety.  For,  as  the 
Li^ae  of  force,  and  the  Circle  of  comprehension  and  multipli- 


58  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

cation,  these  two  represent  at  once  Energy  and  Space,  Will 
and  Love,  Life  and  Substance,  Father  and  Mother.  And 
though  two,  they  are  one,  inasmuch  as  the  circle  is  but  the 
line  turning  round  and  following  upon  itself,  instead  of  con- 
tinuing into  the  abyss  to  expend  its  force  in  vain.  Thus 
Love  is  self-completion  by  the  union  of  corresponding  oppo- 
sites  in  the  same  substance,  and  Sex  has  its  origin  in  the 
very  nature  of  Deity.  The  principle  of  duality  is  for  the 
Kabbalists — the  heirs  and  interpreters  of  Hebrew  trans- 
cendentalism— the  true  God  of  Hosts.  Hence  the  univer- 
sal use  of  its  emblems  in  religious  worship,  wherein  nations 
gave  the  preference  to  the  one  or  to  the  other,  according  to 
their  own  characteristics. 

42.  While  these  symbols  conjoined  find  expression  in 
the  terms  Jehovah  or  Yahveh,  Jove,  Jao,  and  numerous 
similar  appellations  of  Deity,  the  names  Zeus,  Dyaus, 
Theos,  and  Deus  represent  but  the  forceful  and  masculine 
element  in  the  feminine  azure  sphere  of  the  sky,  the  elec- 
tric flash  from  the  bosom  of  the  heavens.  That  name  of 
Deity  which,  occurring  in  the  Old  Testament,  is  translated 
the  Almighty,  namely,  El  Shaddai,  signifies  the  Breasted 
God,  and  is  used  when  the  mode  of  the  Divine  nature 
implied,  is  of  a  feminine  character.  The  arbitrary  and 
harsh  aspect  under  which  Jehovah  is  chiefly  presented  in 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  is  due,  not  to  any  lack  of  the 
feminine  element  either  in  His  name  or  in  His  nature,  or 
to  any  failure  on  the  part  of  the  inspired  leaders  of  Israel 
to  recognise  this  quality ;  but  to  the  rudimentary  condi- 
tion of  the  people  at  large,  and  their  consequent  amenability 
to  a  delineation  of  the  sterner  side  only  of  the  Divine 
character.  It  is  according  to  the  Divine  order  that  this, 
the  masculine  element  of  existence,  should  be  the  first  to 
find  exercise.     In   the  initiation  of  any  system,  the  centri- 


Lect.  II.]    THE  SUBSTANCE   OF  EXISTENCE,  59 

fugal,  or  repellant,  mode  of  force  must  precede  the  centri- 
petal, or  attractive,  mode ;  since  only  when  the  former 
has  accomplished  its  part,  is  there  opportunity  for  the  exer- 
cise of  the  latter.  True,  the  Love  Who  prompts  to  crea- 
tion, is  present  from  the  beginning ;  but  She  reserves  the 
manifestation  of  Herself  until  the  subject  of  Her  creative 
impulsion  is  able  to  bear  its  part  in  the  recognition  of  Her. 
First  Will,  therefore,  then  Love ;  first  Projection,  then 
Recall ;  first  Expansion,  then  Contraction  ;  first  Centrifugal, 
then  Centripetal;  first  Motor,  then  Sensory;  first  Intel- 
lectual, then  Intuitional ;  first  Sensible  then  Spiritual ;  in 
short,  first  Man  and  then  Woman, — such  invariably  is  the 
order  by  which  the  Universal  Heart  of  existence  manifests 
its  essential  dualism  of  nature  and  operation.  And  in  the 
sequence  set  forth  in  the  Bible — the  sequence,  of  Law  and 
Gospel,  of  Old  Testament  and  New — the  same  rule  prevails. 
To  the  masculine  function  is  accorded  precedence  in  point 
of  time ;  to  the  feminine,  in  point  of  dignity.  And  it  is  thus 
that  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  will  and  power  in 
Creation  is  followed  by  the  manifestation  of  the  Divine  love 
and  wisdom  in  Redemption,  and  that  the  agent  of  this  last 
is  always  the  *'  woman."  She  it  is  who,  by  Her  Intuition 
of  God,  bruises  the  head  of  the  Serpent  of  Matter,  and  Her 
sons  they  are  who  get  the  victory  over  him. 

43.  Even  where  not  yet  recognised  by  men  in  general, 
there  were  always  some  by  whom  the  true  character  of 
Deity  in  this  respect  could  be  discerned.  And  to  these 
are  due  all  those  utterances  in  which  the  mystical  Scrip- 
tures express  the  justice,  mercy,  long-suffering,  and  other 
qualities  of  the  Divine  nature,  which,  in  being  moral  and 
of  the  soul,  are  feminine,  and  when  manifested  of  the  Spirit 
as  persons,  take  form,  not  as  "  Gods,"  but  as  "  Goddesses." 
They  to  whom  this  truth  was  known  were  prophets ;  and 


6o  THE  PERFECT  WA\. 

they  spoke,  not  of  that  which  appertains  to  any  one 
period,  but  of  that  which  is  eternal,  though  finding  ex- 
pression more  or  less  palpable  at  various  periods.  And 
that  whereby  they  knew  so  much,  was  not  the  outer  sense 
and  reason,  but  the  inner  perception  and  recollection — the 
knowledge,  that  is,  which  the  soul  of  the  individual  has  of 
her  own  larger  self,  the  Soul  of  the  Universal.  For  only 
Soul  can  read  Soul.  And  only  he  is  a  prophet  who  has  ac- 
quired the  knowledge  of  his  own  soul.  And  that  which 
above  all  else  the  Soul  tells  him,  is  that  God  is,  first  and 
foremost,  Love;  and  that,  inasmuch  as  God  is  the  Substance 
of  humanity,  whatever  subsists  in  the  Divine  nature  must, 
in  due  course,  first  in  the  individual  and  next  in  the  race, 
find  full  expression  and  recognition. 

44.  If  it  be  asked  whether  God  can  indeed  find  such 
expression  in  man,  and,  if  so,  how  so  great  a  marvel  comes 
about,  we  reply  that  it  is  precisely  the  purpose  of  these 
lectures  to  afford  demonstration  on  both  points.  For  the 
object  of  the  system  under  exposition  in  this,  and  no  more, 
no  less.  For  that  object  is — as  was  the  object  of  all  sacred 
mysteries,  whether  of  our  Bible  or  other — to  enable  man 
anew  so  to  develop  the  Soul,  or  Essential  Woman,  within 
him,  as  to  become,  through  Her,  a  perfect  reflection  of  the 
universal  Soul,  and  made,  therefore,  in  what,  mystically,  is 
called  the  image  of  God. 

45  An  illustration  will  conduce  to  the  comprehension  of 
this.  We  are,  let  us  suppose,  in  a  meadow  covered  with 
grass  and  flowers.  It  is  early  morning,  and  everything 
is  bespangled  with  dew.  And  in  each  dew-drop  is  every- 
thing reflected,  from  the  sun  itself  down  to  the  minutest 
object.  All  reflect  God.  All  is  in  every  dew-drop.  And 
God  is  in  each  individual  according  to  his  capacity  for 
reflecting  God.     Each  in  his  degree  reflects  God's  image 


Lect.  II.]    7HE  SUBSTANCE  OF  EXISTENCE,  6l 

And  the  capcicity  of  each,  and  the  degree  of  each,  depend 
upon  the  development  and  purity  of  his  soul.  The  soul 
that  fully  reflects  the  sun,  becomes  itself  a  sun,  the 
brightness  of  the  Divine  glory  and  the  express  image  of  the 
Divine  person. 

46.  Such,  in  all  mystical  Scriptures,  has  ever  been  the 
mode  in  which  perfected  souls  have  been  regarded.  For, 
in  being  the  redeeming  element  in  man,  that  whereby  he 
escapes  from  the  dominion  of  spiritual  darkness  and 
death, — from  the  limitations,  that  is,  of  an  existence  merely 
material, — the  soul  is  as  a  spiritual  sun,  corresponding  in 
all  things  with  the  solar  orb.  Wherefore  all  they  who,  by 
virtue  of  their  constituting  for  men  a  full  manifestation  of 
the  powers  of  the  soul,  have  been  to  them  as  a  redeeming 
sun, — have  been  designated  sungods,  and  invested  with 
careers  corresponding  to  the  apparent  annual  course  of  the 
sun.  Between  the  phenomena  of  this  course  and  the 
actual  history  of  the  perfected  soul  is  an  exact  corre- 
spondence, requiring  for  its  recognition  but  due  knowledge 
of  both.  And  it  is  because  the  soul's  history  is  one,  and 
this  a  history  corresponding  with  the  sun's,  that  all  those 
who  have  earned  of  their  fellows  the  supreme  title  of 
Saviour  of  men,  have  been  invested  with  it,  and  represented 
as  having  exhibited  the  same  phenomena  in  their  own  lives. 
Thus  the  history  ascribed  alike  to  Osiris,  Zoroaster, 
Krishna,  Mithras,  Pythagoras,  Buddha,  and  Jesus,  has  not, 
as  sciolists  vainly  imagine,  been  plagiarised  in  one  case 
from  another,  or  borrowed  from  some  common  source  in 
itself  unreal ;  but  it  has  been  lived,  spiritually,  by  the  men 
themselves  indicated  by  those  names.  And,  being  the 
history  of  the  soul  of  the  Man  Regenerate,  it  corresponds 
to  that  of  the  sun,— the  vitalising  centre  of  the  physical 
system, —  and   has   accordingly  been   described   in    terms 


6a  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

derived  from  the  solar  phenomena  as  indicated  in  the 
zodiacal  planisphere.  Thus  the  soul's  history  is  written  in 
the  stars ;  and  the  heavens  are  her  chroniclers,  and  tell  the 
glory  at  once  of  her  and  of  God.  A  Bible  is  always  a 
hieroglyph  of  the  soul.  And  the  Zodiac  is  simply  the  first 
and  most  stupendous  of  Bibles, — a  Bible  which,  like  all 
other  Bibles,  was  written  by  men  who,  attaining  to  the 
knowledge  of  their  own  souls,  attained  to  that  of  all  souls, 
and  of  God,  Who  is  the  Life  and  Substance  of  souls. 

47.  And  these  were  men  who  followed  steadfastly  that 
Perfect  Way,  which  is  in  the  power  of  each,  according  to 
his  degree,  to  follow,  until,  by  the  development  of  their  own 
natural  potentialities,  they  attained  to  that  which,  mystically 
is  called  the  Finding  of  Christ.  And  this  is  the  perfection 
which,  in  that  it  is  God,  is  its  own  exceeding  great  reward. 
For  the  "  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life."  As  God  is  One,  so 
is  the  soul  one ;  and  these  are  One  also  both  in  nature  and 
method.  All  that  is  in  God  as  universal  subsists  also  in 
God  as  individual.  Wherefore  God  is  nothing  that  man  is 
not  And  what  man  is,  that  God  is  likewise.  God  with- 
holds nothing  of  God  from  man.  For  "  God  is  Love,"  and 
•*  Love  hath  nothing  of  her  own." 

48.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Soul,  mystically  called  the 
Woman.  It  is  a  doctrine  which,  by  showing  men  that  of 
which  they  are  made,  and  therefore  that  which  they  have 
it  in  them  to  be,  makes  them,  when  they  receive  it,  heartily 
ashamed  of  being  what,  for  the  most  part,  they  are.^ 

*  See  Appendices,  No.  I.,  Part  i. 


LECTURE  THE  THIRD. 

THE  VARIOUS    ORDERS    OF  SPIRITS;  AND   HOW   TO 
DISCERN  THEM. 

Part  I. 

I.  We  have  spoken  of  the  Soul  and  of  Spirit.  We  come 
now  to  speak  of  Spirits;  for  the  understanding  of  these 
also  is  necessary  to  a  true  doctrine  concerning  Existence. 
But  though  speaking  especially  of  Spirits,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  refer  also  to  Souls ;  for  though  Spirits,  properly  so 
called,  have  not  souls.  Souls  have  spirits.  In  either  case, 
however,  we  shall  treat  mainly  of  the  Unembodied,  or  the 
Disembodied.  And  as  the  region  or  sphere  which  is 
immediately  contiguous  to  the  Material,  and  which  we 
ourselves  enter  upon  quitting  the  Material,  is  the  Astral, 
it  is  this,  and  its  occupants,  which  will  first  engage  our 
attention. 

2.  To  understand  fully  the  place  and  value  of  this  sphere, 
it  is  necessary  to  have  in  the  mind  a  clear  conception  of 
the  places  and  values  of  all  the  spheres  which  are  com- 
prised in  and  which  constitute  that  manifestation  of  Being 
which  is  termed  Existence.  To  this  end  we  will  commence 
with  the  following  succinct  recapitulation.  The  Spirit  and 
Soul,  which  are  original  life  and  substance,  are  Divine  and 
uncreated.  The  astral  and  material  bodies  are  the 
"created" — that  is,  the  manifested — part.  The  astral — 
which  is  called  also  the  sideral,  the  odic,  the  magnetic,  the 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


fiery — b  fluidic,  and  constitutes  the  bond  between  the  soul 
and  the  material  body.  It  is  the  original  body,  being  tha> 
which  makes  and  that  which  becomes.  The  original,  per 
manent  individual  consists  of  soul  and  spirit;  and  when 
manifested  it  is  by  means  of  the  astral  or  fluidic  body,  of 
which  the  material  or  fixed  body  is  the  outer  manifestation 
— the  manifestation,  as  it  is  called,  in  ultimates. 

3.  Every  creation,  or  complete  manifested  entity,  whe- 
ther it  be  macrocosmic  or  microcosmic,  is  a  compound  of 
two  dualisms,  which  are  respectively  celestial  and  terres- 
trial, or  spiritual  and  material.  The  celestial,  or  kingdom 
of  heaven,  which  consists  of  soul  and  spirit,  is  within. 
And  the  terrestrial,  or  kingdom  of  this  world,  which  con- 
sists of  astral  body — the  seat  of  the  anima  bruta — and  of 
phenomenal  body,  is  without.  Of  these  two  dualisms,  each 
is  to  the  other  the  Beyond.  And  between  them,  saving 
only  where  one  and  the  same  Divine  Will — the  will  which 
has  its  seat  in,  and  which  is,  the  Spirit — pervades  the 
whole  being,  is  antagonism.  They  are  respectively  the 
spiritual  man  and  the  natural  man.  But  in  the  suffusion 
of  the  entire  personality  thus  constituted,  by  one  and  the 
same  Divine  Will,  consists  what  mystically  is  termed  the 
At-one-ment,  or  reconciliation  between  man  and  God,  but 
which  is  commonly  callad  the  Atonement. 

t^  As  the  whole  is,  thus,  fourfold,  so,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  spirit,  are  the  parts.  The  external,  material 
body,  whether  of  planet  or  of  man,  is  fourfold  in  that  it 
is  gaseous,  mineral,  vegetable,  animal.  The  astral  body,  or 
perisoLil,  is  fourfold,  being  magnetic,  purgatorial,  limbic, 
cherubic, — terms  presently  to  be  explained.  The  soul  is 
fourfold,  namely,  elemental,  instinctive,  vital,  rational 
And  the  spirit  is  threefold,  or  triune,  because  there  is 
no  external  to  spirit.     Being  threefold,  it  is  the  Essence, 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  65 

the  Father,  the  Word;  and  is  desirous,  willing,  obedient 
And  being  God,  it  is  one,  because  God  is  one.  And  thus 
the  magical  number,  mystically  called  the  number  of  Per- 
fection and  of  the  Woman,  the  number  Thirteen,  derives 
its  sanctity  from  the  constitution  of  the  perfected  individual 

5.  The  astral  sphere,  zone,  or  circulus, — variously  called 
the  perisoul,  the  magnetic,  sideral,  and  odic  fluid  or  body, — 
is  the  same  with  the  "wheel"  of  Ezekiel,  of  which  the 
four  living  creatures  are  the  four  elemental  spirits.  It 
contains  four  orders  of  entities,  which  are  represented  by 
four  magnetic  circuli  or  wheels  encircling  the  earth,  and 
full  of  lives.  The  highest  and  uppermost  of  these  circuli 
is  that  of  the  elemental  spirits  or  "  winged  creatures"  ;  the 
second  is  that  of  the  souls  ;  the  third  is  that  of  the  shades ; 
and  the  fourth  and  lowest  is  that  of  the  magnetic  spirits 
commonly  called  astrals. 

6.  These  circuli  correspond  to  Air,  Water,  Earth,  and 
Fire,  beginning  at  the  outer  and  uppermost  and  going 
inwards  and  downwards.  The  magnetic  emanations,  or 
astrals,  are  under  the  dominion  of  the  Fire.  They  are 
not  souls,  or  divine  personalities  ;  they  are  simply  emana- 
tions or  phantasms,  and  have  no  real  being. 

7.  Every  event  or  circumstance  which  has  taken  place 
upon  the  planet,  has  an  astral  counterpart  or  picture  in  the 
magnetic  light ;  so  that,  as  already  said,  there  are  actually 
ghosts  of  events  as  well  as  of  persons.  The  magnetic 
existences  of  this  circle  are  the  shades,  or  manes,  of  past 
times,  circumstances,  thoughts,  and  acts  of  which  the  planet 
has  been  the  scene ;  and  they  can  be  evoked  and  conjured. 
The  appearances  on  such  occasions  are  but  shadows  left 
on  the  protoplasmic  mirror.  This  order,  then,  corresponds 
to  that  of  Fire,  and  is  the  fourth  and  lowest. 

8.  The   next   circulus,  the  third,  with  its  spirits,  corre- 

F 


66  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

spends  to  Earth,  and  contains  the  shades,  Lares  and 
Penates,  of  the  dead.  These  are  of  many  different  kinds. 
Some  are  mere  shades,  spiritual  corpses,  which  will  soon 
be  absorbed  by  the  fourth  circulus  just  described  and  be- 
come mere  magnetic  phantoms.  Some  are  "  ghosts,"  or 
astral  souls  not  containing  the  divine  particle,  but  repre- 
senting merely  the  "  earthly  minds "  of  the  departed. 
These  are  in  Limbo  or  the  "Lower  Eden."  Others  are 
really  Souls,  and  of  the  celestial  order,  or  a?ima  divina,  who 
are  in  Purgatory,  being  bound  to  the  astral  envelope,  and 
unable  to  quit  it.  They  are  sometimes  called  "earth-bound 
spirits,"  and  they  often  suffer  horrible  torments  in  their 
prison;  not  because  this  circulus  is  itself  a.  f /ace  of  torment, 
but  because  to  the  anima  divina  the  unredeemed  body, 
whether  material  or  astral,  is  a  "  house  of  bondage  "  and 
chamber  of  ordeal.  The  strong  wills,  love,  and  charity  of 
those  on  earth  may  relieve  these  souls  and  lessen  the  time 
of  their  purgatorial  penance.  Of  some  of  them  the  reten- 
tion is  due  to  wilful  ignorance,  of  others  to  sensuality,  and 
of  others  to  crimes  of  violence,  injustice,  and  cruelty. 

9.  This  sphere  is  also  inhabited  by  a  terrible  class,  that 
of  the  "  devils,"  some  of  whom  are  of  great  power  and 
malice.  Of  these  the  souls  are  never  set  free  ;  they  are  in 
what  is  called  "  Hell."  But  they  are  not  immortal.  For, 
after  a  period  corresponding  to  their  personal  vitality  and 
the  strength  of  their  rebellious  wills,  they  are  consumed, 
and  perish  for  ever.  For  a  soul  may  be  utterly  gross  at 
last,  and  deprived  of  all  spirit  of  the  Divine  order,  and  yet 
may  have  so  strong  a  vitality  or  mortal  spirit  of  its  own, 
that  it  may  last  hundreds  of  years  in  low  atmospheres. 
But  this  occurs  only  with  souls  of  very  strong  will,  and 
generally  of  indomitable  wickedness.  The  strength  of 
their  evil  will,  and  the  determination  to  be  wicked,  keep 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS.  67 

them  alive.  But,  though  devils,  they  are  mortal,  and  must 
go  out  at  last  Their  end  is  utter  darkness.  They  cease 
to  exist.  Meanwhile  they  can  be  evoked  by  incantation. 
But  the  practice  is  of  the  most  dangerous  and  wicked 
kind ;  for  the  endeavour  of  these  lost  spirits  is  to  ruin 
every  soul  to  which  they  have  access. 

10.  In  the  sense  ordinarily  understood,  there  is  no  per- 
sonal Devil.  That  which,  mystically,  is  called  the  Devil, 
is  the  negation  and  opposite  of  God.  And  whereas  God 
is  I  AM,  or  positive  Being,  the  Devil  is  NOT.  He  is 
not  positive,  not  self-subsistent,  not  formulate.  God  is  all 
these ;  and  the  Devil,  in  being  the  opposite  of  these,  is  none 
of  them.  God,  as  has  been  said,  is  Light,  Truth,  Order, 
Harmony,  Reason ;  and  God's  works  are  illumination, 
knowledge,  understanding,  love,  and  sanity.  The  Devil, 
therefore,  is  darkness,  falsehood,  discord,  and  ignorance  ; 
and  his  works  are  confusion,  folly,  division,  hatred,  and 
delirium.  He  has  no  individuality  and  no  being.  For  he 
represents  the  Not-being.  Whatever  God  /V,  that  the 
Devil  is  not.  Wherever  God's  kingdom  is  not,  the  Devil 
reigns. 

11.  It  is  the  principle  of  Not-being  which,  taking  per- 
sonality in  man,  becomes  to  him  the  Devil.  For  by  divest- 
ing him  of  his  divine  qualities,  actual  or  potential,  it  makes 
him  in  the  image  of  God's  opposite,  that  is,  a  devil.  And 
of  such  a  one  the  end  is  destruction,  or,  as  the  Scriptures 
call  it,  eternal  death.  And  this  of  necessity  from  the  nature 
of  the  case.  For  evil  has  not  in  itself  the  element  of  self- 
perpetuation.  God  alone  is  Life  or  the  principle  of  eternal 
generation.  And,  as  Life,  God  comprises  all  things  neces- 
sary to  life,  to  its  production,  that  is,  to  its  perfection,  and 
to  its  perpetuation.  And  God  is  Spirit,  whereof  the  anti- 
thetical ultimate  is  Matter.     The  Devil  is  that  which  gives 


6S  THE  PERFECT  WAY 

to  Matter  the  pre-eminence  over  Spirit.  That  is,  since 
there  is  nothing  but  God's  creation  to  be  set  in  opposition 
to  God,  the  Devil  exalts  the  mere  material  of  creation  in 
the  place  of  God.  Of  such  preference  for  Matter  over 
Spirit,  for  appearance  over  reality,  for  Seeming  over  Being, 
the  end  is  the  forfeiture  of  reality,  and  therein,  of  Being. 
In  representing,  therefore,  the  contest  between  good  and 
evil, — a  contest  corresponding  to  that  between  light  and 
darkness, — creation  represents  the  contest  between  Being 
and  Not-being.  To  "  give  place  to  the  Devil,"  is  thus,  in 
its  ultimate  result,  to  renounce  Being.  And,  as  a  free 
agent,  man  is  able  to  do  this.  God,  while  giving  to  all 
the  opportunity  and  choice,  compels  no  one  to  remain  in 
Being.  God  accepts  only  willing  service ;  and  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  compulsory  salvation.  God — that  is  Good, 
— must  be  loved  and  followed  for  the  sake  of  God  and 
Good,  not  through  fear  of  possible  penalties,  or  hope  of 
possible  rewards. 

12.  Now  the  sign,  above  all  others,  whereby  to  dis- 
tinguish the  Devil,  is  this  : — God  is,  first  and  foremost. 
Love.  The  Devil,  therefore,  is,  before  all  else,  Hate.  He 
is  to  be  known,  then,  first  by  the  limitation,  and  next  by 
the  negation  of  Love. 

13.  The  Devil  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  "Satan," 
though  they  are  sometimes  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  if  they 
were  identical.  The  truth  concerning  "  Satan  "  belongs  to 
those  greater  mysteries  which  have  always  been  reserved 
from  general  cognition. ^ 

14.  Notwithstanding  that  the  Devil  is  the  Non-entity 
above  described,  he  is  the  most  potent,  and,  indeed,  sole 
power  of  evil.  And  no  one  is  in  so  great  danger  from  him, 
as  he  who  does  not  believe  in  him.     The  whole  function 

*  See  Appendices,  No.  XV, 


Lect.  III.]     THE   DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS.  69 

of  the  Christ  is  to  oppose,  and  rescue  men  from  him.  And 
therefore  it  is  written,  "  For  this  cause  is  Christ  manifest, 
that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil." 

15.  But,  be  it  remembered,  though  there  is  no  self-sub- 
sistent,  positive  evil  being, — such  as  the  Devil  is  ordinarily 
presented, — but  only  the  negation  of  God, — which  is  to 
God  what  darkness  is  to  light,  and  the  outermost  void 
to  the  solar  system, — there  are  evil  spirits,  the  souls  of  bad 
men  on  their  downward  way  to  final  extinction.  And  these 
are  wont  to  associate  themselves  with  persons  in  the  flesh 
for  whom  they  have  affinity.  And  they  do  this  partly  in 
order  to  gratify  their  own  evil  propensities  by  inciting  to 
wickedness  and  mischief,  and  partly  to  obtain  from  them 
the  vitality  necessary  to  prolong  their  own  existence.  For, 
as  their  career  approaches  its  end,  they  become  so  low  in 
vitality  that  a  sentence  of  expulsion  from  the  person  in 
whom  they  have  taken  refuge  may  involve  their  immediate 
extinction,  unless  they  can  find  other  location, — a  con- 
tingency obviously  contemplated  in  the  case  of  the  Gadarene 
demoniacs.  The  ailments,  physical  or  mental,  of  men  are 
sometimes  caused  or  aggravated  by  extraneous  malignant 
entities  of  this  order.  And  occultists  hold  that  they  even 
share  with  the  elementals  the  power  of  inducing  the  con- 
ditions under  which  sudden  storms  and  other  elemental 
disturbances  occur.  Evil  spirits  have  no  chief,  no  organi- 
sation or  solidarity  ;  nothing  that  corresponds  to  God.  The 
worse  they  are,  the  lower  and  the  nearer  to  extinction.  The 
conditions  which  attract  them  are  due  to  men  themselves, 
and  may  be  the  result  of  prenatal  misconduct. 

16.  The  next  and  second  circulus  of  the  planet — that 
which  corresponds  to  the  Water — is  the  kingdom  of  the 
souls  which  are  mystically  described  as  being  in  "  Brahma's 
boscm."     These  are  the  purified   who  are  at  rest    before 


7©  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

seeking  re-incarnation.  This  circulus  is  not  confined  to 
human  souls.  Therein  are  all  creatures,  both  great  and 
small,  but  without  "  fiery  "  envelope.  Between  these  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  earth-bound  souls  in  prison  to  their  own 
astral  bodies,  a  great  gulf  is  fixed ;  and  they  cannot  pass 
from  one  to  the  other  save  on  accomplishing  their  purgatioiL 
"  Thou  co?nesi  not  out  thence  until  thou  hast  paid  the  last 
mite"  The  souls  in  the  second  circulus,  however,  though 
purified,  are  still  "  under  the  elements."  For  purification 
is  not  regeneration,  though  a  necessary  step  towards  it. 
And  not  being  ready  for  transmutation  into  spirit,  they 
must,  sooner  or  later,  seek  fresh  incarnations.  They  are, 
therefore,  still  in  the  sphere  of  the  planet.  Whereas  the 
regenerated  or  transmuted  souls  have  passed  beyond  the 
astral  zone  altogether,  and  it  contains  no  trace  of  them. 
This  second  circulus  was  placed  under  the  dominion  of  the 
sea-god  Poseidon,  because,  first,  being  protoplasmic  and 
devoid  of  any  limiting  principle,  water  corresponds  to  the 
substance  of  the  Soul.  Next,  it  is  the  baptismal  symbol  ol 
purification  from  materiaUty.  And,  thirdly,  it  is  the  source 
of  life  and  the  contrary  of  fire.  "  Let  Lazarus  dip  the  tip 
of  his  fifiger  in  water  ^  and  cool  my  tongue"  cries  the  soul  in 
the  prison  of  the  "  fiery  "  body  to  the  soul  in  the  zone  ol 
the  water. 

17.  To  the  first  and  highest  circulus  belong  the  spirits 
of  the  elements,  which  pervade  all  things,  not  only  of  the 
Ik^acrocosmic  planet,  but  of  the  Microcosm  man.  Of  these 
elementals,  the  air-spirits  preside  over  the  function  of  re- 
spiration, and  the  organs  which  accomplish  it.  The  water- 
spirits  preside  over  the  humours  and  secretions  of  the  body, 
and  in  particular  the  blood.  The  earth-spirits  have  for  their 
domain  the  various  tissues  of  the  body.  And  animal  heat, 
assimilation,  and  nutrition  are  dependent  on  the  fire-spirits. 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  71 

18.  An  initiate  of  the  highest  grade,  one  who  has  power 
to  hush  the  storm  and  still  the  waves,  can,  through  the 
same  agency,  heal  the  disorders  and  regenerate  the  func- 
tions of  the  body.  And  he  does  this  by  an  impulsion  of 
will  acting  on  the  magnetic  atmosphere,  every  particle  of 
which  has  a  spirit  capable  of  responding  to  the  human  will. 

19.  The  common  phrase,  "Spirits  of  the  dead,"  is  in- 
correct. There  are  only  shades  of  the  dead  and  souls  of 
the  dead.  But  these  last  are  of  two  kinds,  the  earthly,  or 
antma  brtiiay  and  the  heavenly,  or  anhna  divina.  The 
shade,  larva,  or  spectre — which  is  the  outer  element  of  the 
ghost — is  always  dumb.  The  true  "  ghost "  consists  of  the 
exterior  and  earthly  portion  of  the  soul,  that  portion  which, 
being  weighted  with  cares,  attachments  and  memories 
merely  mundane,  is  detached  by  the  soul  and  remains  in 
the  astral  sphere,  an  existence  more  or  less  definite  and 
personal,  and  capable  of  holding,  through  a  Sensitive,  con- 
verse with  the  living.  It  is,  however,  but  as  a  cast-off 
vestment  of  the  soul,  and  is  incapable  of  endurance  as 
ghost.  The  true  soul  and  real  person,  the  anima  divina, 
parts  at  death  with  all  those  lower  affections  which  would 
have  retained  it  near  its  earthly  haunts,  and  either  passes 
on  at  once  to  higher  conditions,  attaining  its  perfection  by 
post  mortem  evolution,  or  continues  its  peregrinations  in  a 
new  body.  This,  the  true  soul,  may,  by  Divine  permission, 
and  on  special  occasions,  communicate  with  the  living,  re- 
turning for  that  purpose  from  the  purgatorial  world  ;  but 
such  an  event  is  of  the  rarest  and  most  solemn  kind.  Re- 
incarnation pertains  only  to  the  true  soul.  The  astral  soul 
or  fluidic  envelope,  does  not  again  become  incarnate;  so 
that  they  are  not  in  error  who  assert  that  a  person  is  never 
twice  incarnate.  That  which  transmigrates  is  the  essential 
ge^ra  of  the  individual,  the  seat  of  all  his  divine  potencies. 


ya  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

In  some  this  exists  as  a  mere  dim  spark,  and  in  others  as 
a  luminous  sun. 

20.  Metempsychosis,  in  its  strict  sense,  consists  in  the 
overshadowing  of  a  soul  already  incarnate,  by  one  which 
has  completed  its  transmigrations,  and  become  freed  from 
Matter  and  all  planetary  bonds.  This  divine  overshadow- 
ing differs  both  in  kind  and  in  degree  from  those  astral 
visitations  which  are  familiar  to  so  many  under  the  names 
of  "  guides,"  and  "  controls,"  and  which,  as  will  presently 
be  shown,  are  often  not  even  "ghosts,"  but  mere  astral 
mirages  of  the  seer  or  the  invoker.  When  not  of  this  kind, 
the  control  is  either  of  the  spirits  known  as  Elementals,  or 
of  the  shades  or  larvce  of  the  recently  dead,  the  Manes, 
Lares,  and  Penates  of  the  Latins.  The  river  Lethe,  of 
which  the  dead  are  said  to  drink  in  order  to  obtain  oblivion 
of  their  past  before  returning  to  new  earth-bodies,  repre- 
sents the  process  of  separation  between  the  a?ii//ia  divina 
and  anitna  bruta,  whereby  the  former  doffs  for  a  time  the 
garment  of  its  memory.  Souls  may,  according  to  circum- 
stances, either  become  re-incarnate  immediately  after  such 
divestment  of  their  astral  part,  or  proceed  to  accomplish 
their  purification  in  the  purgatorial  world.^ 

21.  It  is  as  penance  or  expiation  that  souls  re-descend 
from  the  human  into  the  animal  form.  This  return  occurs 
through  the  forfeiture  of  the  divine-human  spirit,  so  that 
the  spirit  itself  does  not  incur  dishonour.  True,  the 
penance  involves  disgrace ;  but  the  disgrace  is  not  in  the 
penance,  but  in  the  sin  through  which  the  need  for  the 
penance  is  incurred  The  man  who  sullies  his  humanity 
by  cruelty  or  impurity,  is  already  below  the  grade  of 
humanity ;  and  the  form  which  his  soul  assumes  is  the 
mere  natural  consequence  of  that  degradation.     Form  is 

*  See  Appendices,  No.  II. 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS.  73 

the  expression  of  qualities.  These  are  dependent  upon 
the  condition  of  substance,  so  that  the  soul  takes  neces- 
sarily its  form  according  to  its  condition.  And  this  is 
dependent  upon  the  will  or  affections  of  the  individual. 
Wherefore  it  is  an  error  to  hold  "  Nature  "  responsible  for 
fierce  and  horrible  creatures.  All  that  "  Nature  "  does,  is  to 
enable  creatures  to  take  form  according  to  the  image  in 
which  they  have  made  themselves  by  the  tendencies  they 
have  voluntarily  encouraged.  She  allows  that  which  is  in- 
terior to  the  individual  to  manifest  itself  exteriorly.  Were 
this  not  so,  no  character  of  any  creature  could  be  known 
by  its  appearance.  The  "  mark  set  upon  Cain  "  has  its 
counterpart  in  the  stripe  of  the  tiger ;  and  the  Crustacea 
denote  selfish  spirits,  who  are  hard  exteriorly  to  all  the 
world,  and  soft  only  interiorly  to  themselves.  The  adept 
in  Psychology  can  tell  whether  the  soul  of  an  animal  is 
on  its  upward  or  its  downward  path.  He  can  discern  also 
the  animal  beneath  the  human  form,  when  the  progressing 
soul  has  not  yet  wholly  shed  the  animal  nature ;  for  the  ex- 
terior form  of  humanity  is  reached  in  full  while  its  interior 
reality  is  reached  in  part  only.  Thus,  for  the  adept  there 
are  more  animals  than  men  to  be  seen  in  the  streets  of  a  city, 
despite  the  humanity  of  their  forms.  The  individual  is 
already  partly  human  before  it  has  ceased  to  wear  the  form 
of  a  rudimentary  man,  that  is,  of  an  animal  The  matrix 
can  bring  forth  only  its  own  kind,  in  the  semblance  of  the 
generators ;  and  as  soon  as  the  human  is  attained,  even  in 
the  least  degree,  the  soul  has  power  to  put  on  the  body  of 
humanity.  Thus,  too,  the  adept  can  see  the  human  shape 
in  creatures  under  torture  in  the  physiological  laboratory. 
He  can  discern  the  potential  form  of  a  man,  with  limbs 
and  lineaments  resembling  those  of  his  tormentors,  hidden 
ivithin  the  outward  form  as  a  child  in  its  mother's  womb, 


74  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

and  writhing  and  moaning  under  the  lacerations  of  the 
knife.  And  he  sees  also  the  tiger  and  the  devil  rapidly 
developing  within  the  still  human  forms  of  the  torturers, 
and  knows  certainly  that  to  such  grades  they  will  descend 
on  quitting  the  human.  For  he  knows,  having  learned  't 
by  the  long  experiences  of  his  own  soul,  that  God,  who 
is  before  all  else  Love,  is  also  before  all  else  Justice,  and 
this  because  God  is  Love ;  for  Justice  is  Sympathy, 
Wherefore,  by  the  inexorable  law  of  Justice,  he  who  makes 
existence  a  hell  for  others,  prepares,  inevitably,  a  hell  for 
himself,  wherein  he  will  be  his  own  devil,  the  inflictor  of 
his  own  torments.  His  victims  will,  indeed,  find  compen- 
sation at  the  Divine  hands ;  but  for  him  will  be  no  escape, 
no  alleviation,  until  "  he  has  paid  the  last  mite."  For  the 
pitiless,  and  for  the  pitiless  alone,  there  is  no  pity.  Such, 
the  adept  of  spiritual  science  knows  absolutely,  is  the  doom 
that  awaits  both  the  tormentor  himself,  and,  in  their  degree, 
those  who,  by  accepting  the  results  of  his  practice,  consent 
to  his  method. 

22.  That  which  leads  to  the  loss  of  the  soul,  is  not  isolated 
crime,  however  heinous,  or  even  a  repetition  of  this ;  but  a 
continued  condition  of  the  heart,  in  which  the  will  of  the 
individual  is  in  persistent  opposition  to  the  Divine  Will ; 
for  this  is  a  state  in  which  repentance  is  impossible.  The 
condition  most  favourable  to  salvation,  and  speedy  emanci- 
pation from  successive  incarnations,  is  the  attitude  of  willing 
obedience, — freedom  and  submission.  The  great  object  to 
be  attained  is  emancipation  from  the  body, — the  redemption, 
that  is,  of  Spirit  from  Matter. 


Lect.  III.l     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS.  75 

Part  II. 

23.  We  will  now  speak  particularly  of  that  order  of  spirits 
by  which,  ordinarily,  "  mediums  "  are  "  controlled  " ;  or, 
more  correctly,  sensitives  are  influenced,  since  these  spirits, 
which  are  called  astrals,  have  no  force,  and  cannot  exercise 
the  least  control.  Born  of  the  emanations  of  the  body,  they 
occupy  the  perisoul,  or  fluidic  astral  and  magnetic  bond 
which  unites  the  soul  to  the  body. 

24.  In  this  fluid,  which  is  the  magnetism  of  the  earth, 
— the  lowest  circulus  of  the  Fire, — and  which  may  be  more 
clearly  denoted  by  the  term  latent  lights — analogous  to 
latent  heat, — take  place  those  changes,  currents,  and  modi- 
fications which  result  and  are  expressed  in  the  phenomena 
— of  late  days  familiar  to  numbers — produced  by  astral 
spirits.  Through  this  fluidic  element  are  passed  two  cur- 
rents, one  refracted  from  above,  and  the  other  reflected 
from  below, — one  being  celestial,  as  coming  direct  from  the 
spirit,  and  the  other  terrestrial,  as  coming  from  the  earth 
or  body ;  and  the  adept  must  know  how  to  distinguish  the 
ray  from  the  reflection.  When  a  medium,  or  sensitive, 
passes  into  the  negative,  and  thence  into  the  somnambulic 
state,  the  mind  of  such  sensitive  is  controlled  by  the  will  of 
the  magnetiser.  The  will  of  this  second  person  directs  and 
controls  the  procession  and  expression  of  the  image  per- 
ceived. But  the  magnetiser,  unless  an  adept,  will  not  be 
able  to  discern  the  true  origin  of  the  images  evoked. 

25.  Now,  in  this  magnetic  sphere  are  two  orders  of 
existences.  Of  these  orders,  one  is  that— already  men- 
tioned— of  the  shades  of  the  dead  ;  the  other  consists  of 
tefleds  of  the  living;  and  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing 
between  these  two  orders  is,  to  the  uninitiated,  a  source  of 
error      Error  of  a  more  serious  kind  arises  through  the 


76  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

complex  character  of  the  astral  region  itself,  and  the  variety 
of  the  grades  of  spirits  by  which  every  division  is  tenanted. 
Spirits  of  the  sub-human  order,  moreover,  are  wont,  under 
control  of  the  wish  of  their  invokers,  to  personate  spirits  of 
a  higher  grade. 

26.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  elements  of  deception 
are,  broadly,  twofold.  In  the  first  place,  to  enter  the  astral 
region,  is  not  to  enter  the  celestial ;  and  the  ray  reflected 
from  below,  and  which  bears  the  imprint  of  the  body,  may 
easily  be  mistaken  for  the  ray  refracted  from  above,  and 
which  alone  is  pure  and  divine.  In  the  second  place,  the 
astral  region  itself  contains  various  orders  of  spirits,  of 
which  some  only  bear  relation  to  actual  souls,  and  the 
others  consist  of  phantasmal  and  illusory  reflects.  These 
latter — the  astral  spirits  properly  so  called — are  in  no 
cases  entities,  or  intelligent  personalities  ;  but  are  reflections, 
traces,  echoes,  or  footprints  of  a  soul  which  is  passing,  or 
which  has  passed,  through  the  astral  medium;  or  else  they 
are  reflections  of  the  individual  himself  who  beholds  or  who 
evokes  them,  and  may  thus  represent  an  equal  compound 
of  both  sensitive  and  magnetiser. 

27.  Now,  the  atmosphere  with  which  a  man  surrounds 
himself — his  soul's  respiration — afifects  the  astral  fluid. 
Reverberations  of  his  own  ideas  come  back  to  him.  His 
soul's  breath  colours  and  savours  what  a  sensitive  conveys 
to  him.  But  he  may  also  meet  with  contradictions,  with 
a  systematic  presentation  of  doctrine  or  of  counsels  at 
variance  with  his  own  personal  views,  through  his  mind  not 
being  sufficiently  positive  to  control  all  the  manifestations 
of  the  electric  agent.  The  influence  of  the  medium,  more- 
over, through  which  the  words  come,  interposes.  Or,  as  is 
often  the  case,  a  magnetic  battery  of  thought  has  over- 
charged the  element  and  imparted  to  it  a  certain  current. 


Leci.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS,  77 

Thus,  new  doctrines  are  "  in  the  air,"  and  spread  like  wild- 
fire. One  or  two  strongly  positive  minds  give  the  initiative, 
and  the  impulse  flies  through  the  whole  mass  of  latent 
light,  correspondingly  influencing  all  who  are  in  relation 
with  it. 

28.  The  merely  magnetic  spirits  are  like  mists  which  rise 
from  the  damp  earth  of  low-lying  lands,  or  vapours  in  high 
altitudes  upon  which  if  a  man's  shadow  falls  he  beholds 
himself  as  a  giant.  For  these  spirits  invariably  flatter  and 
magnify  a  man  to  himself,  telling  one  that  he  is,  or  shall  be, 
a  king,  a  Christ,  or  the  wisest  and  most  famous  of  mortals  ; 
and  that  if  he  will  be  wholly  negative,  and  give  himself 
up  entirely  to  them,  suppressing  his  own  intelligence  and 
moral  sense,  they  will  enable  him  to  realise  his  utmost 
ambition.  Being  born  of  the  fluids  of  the  body,  they  are 
unspiritual  and  live  of  the  body.  And  not  only  have  they 
no  aspirations  beyond  the  body,  but  they  ignore,  and  even 
deny,  the  existence  of  any  sphere  above  their  own.  They 
speak,  indeed,  of  God,  especially  under  the  name  of 
Jehovah,  but  with  complete  ignorance  of  its  meaning ;  and 
they  insist  on  material  renderings  and  applications  of  any 
doctrine  of  which  they  may  catch  the  terms.  They  are 
profuse  alike  of  promises  and  of  menaces,  and  indulge 
freely  in  prophecies.  But  when  informed  of  their  failures 
they  declare  that  even  God  cannot  surely  foresee  the  future, 
but  can  judge  only  according  to  apparent  probabilities.  Of 
contradictions  in  their  own  statements  they  are  altogether 
unconscious ;  and  be  these  gross  and  palpable  as  they  may, 
they  remain  wholly  unabashed  by  the  disclosure  of  them. 
Especially  are  they  bitter  against  the  "  Woman."  For,  in 
her  intuition  of  Spirit,  they  recognise  their  chief  enemy. 
And  whenever  they  attach  themselves  either  to  a  man  or  to 
a  woman,  they  make  it  their  endeavour  to  exalt  the  masculine 


78  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

or  force  element,  of  mind  or  body,  at  the  expense  of  the 
feminine  element.  And  these,  generally,  are  their  signs. 
Is  there  anything  strong?  they  make  it  weak.  Is  there 
anything  wise?  they  make  it  foolish.  Is  there  anything 
sublime  ?  they  distort  and  travesty  it.  And  where  suffered 
to  expatiate  unchecked,  they  descend  to  blasphemy  and 
obscenity  without  measure,  and  incite  to  courses  in  turn 
sensuous,  vicious,  malicious,  or  cruel,  encouraging  to  gross 
and  luxurious  Uving, — the  flesh  of  animals,  and  stimulants 
being  especially  favourable  to  their  production  and  nurture. 
They  are  the  forms  beheld  in  delirium,  and  are  frequent 
agents  in  producing  the  phenomena  of  hysteria.  They  are 
the  authors,  too,  of  those  hasty  impulses  by  yielding  to  which 
peojile  do  in  a  moment  mischief  which  a  Hfe-time  cannot 
efface  or  repair.  And,  as  they  live  upon  the  vital  spirits  of 
the?  blood,  they  deplete  the  vital  energy,  and  are  as  vampires 
to  those  upon  whom  they  fasten.  They  are  able,  moreover, 
to  carry  elsewhere  the  knowledge  they  get  from  any  one ; — 
t*eing  the  "powers  of  the  air"  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  and 
the  "  bird  that  carries  the  voice  and  tells  the  matter."  For 
the  term  rendered  "  bird  "  signifies  a  winged  creature,  and 
implies  an  astral.  Hence  one  of  the  reasons  for  observing 
secrecy  concerning  Sacred  Mysteries.  For,  by  seeming  to 
have  knowledge  of  these,  the  astrals  are  able  to  persuade 
and  mislead  people,  mixing  up  a  little  truth  with  dangerous 
error,  and  getting  the  error  accepted  on  the  strength  of  the 
truth,  or  of  some  Divine  name  or  phrase  with  which  they 
associate  it,  themselves  being  ignorant  of  its  import.  Being 
impersonal,  they  have  no  organon  of  knowledge,  for  this  is 
of  Soul,  and  the  astrals  have  no  positive  existence,  but 
subsist  subjectively  in  human  beings.  Having  no  souls, 
they  are  not  individuals,  and  have  no  idea  of  right  and 
wrong,  true  and  false,  but,  like  a  miiTor,  reflect  what  comes 


Lect.  in.]     THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  79 

before  them,  and,  in  reflecting,  reverse  it.  Catching  any 
prominent  quality  in  a  person's  mind,  they  make  the  most 
of  it  by  reflecting  and  magnifying  it.  Hence  they  are  not 
to  be  heeded.  We  must  heed  only  the  God  within.  Of  the 
enormous  ladder  within  us,  at  the  apex  of  which  is  the 
Absolute,  these  magnetic  phantasmagoria  are  at  the  base. 

29.  Unable  to  grasp  or  conceive  of  anything  beyond 
the  atmosphere  of  their  own  circle,  the  astral  phantoms — 
unless  under  the  influence  of  a  strongly  positive  mind — 
deny  altogether  the  existence  of  the  upper  dualism,  which, 
with  the  lower,  constitutes  man  a  fourfold  being.  They 
assert,  indeed,  that  man  consists  of  body  and  soul ;  but 
they  mean  thereby  the  material  body  and  earthly  mind, 
and  represent  these  as  constituting  the  man.  The  soul 
and  spirit,  which  are  really  the  man,  have  for  them  no 
existence;  and  they  usually  refuse,  in  consequence,  to  admit 
the  doctrine  of  Transmigration  or  Re-incarnation.  For, 
as  they  are  aware,  the  body  and  perisoul  perish,  and  the 
anima  bruta  cannot  transmigrate  or  become  re-incarnate. 
Their  inability  to  recognise  the  soul  and  spirit,  leads  them 
to  deny  the  existence  of  any  source  of  knowledge  superior 
to  themselves,  and  to  assert  that  they  themselves  are  man's 
iTue  and  only  inspiring  spirits  and  guardian  angels.  And 
one  of  their  favourite  devices  consists  in  building  up,  out 
of  the  magnetic  emanations  of  the  individual,  a  form  which 
they  present  as  his  own  "  counterpartal  angel "  and  divine 
spirit,  from  whom,  say  they,  he  was  separated  in  what 
— affecting  Scripture  phraseology — they  call  the  Adamic 
period  of  his  being,  and  by  reunion  with  which  he  attains 
his  final  perfection.  In  this  they  travesty  at  once  the 
doctrine  of  that  divine  marriage  between  soul  and  spirit, 
which,  occurring  in  the  individual,  constitutes  his  final 
perfection,  or  Nirvana ;  and  the  relations  of  the  genius,  oi 


8o  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

true  guardian  angel,  with  his  client.  For,  being  unintel- 
ligent, they  fail  to  perceive  that  perfection  is  to  be  attained, 
not  by  accretion  or  addition  from  without,  but  only  by 
development  or  unfoldment  from  within.  Thus  the  process 
itself  of  regeneration,  becomes  altogether  an  absurdity  in 
their  hands.  And  in  this,  as  in  all  other  matters,  the 
object  of  the  astrals  is  to  obtain  all  credit  and  support  for 
their  own  order,  by  substituting  for  the  Spirit  a  spirit,  and 
this  one  of  themselves. 

30.  It  is  to  astral  instigation,  generally,  that  are  due  the 
various  communities  and  sects  which  have  for  their  basis 
some  peculiar  relation  between  the  sexes.  That  modern 
form  of  the  cultus  of  what  is  called  "  Free  Love,"  which 
sets  forth,  not  the  human,  but  the  female,  body  as  the 
temple  of  God,  and  with  this  couples  the  doctrine  of 
"  counterpartal  angels,"  is  entirely  of  astral  contrivance. 
And  so  also  is  the  notion,  far  from  uncommon,  that  by 
abjuring  the  ordinary  marriage  relation,  and  devoting  her- 
self wholly  to  her  astral  associate,  a  woman  may,  in  the  most 
literal  sense,  become  an  immaculate  mother  of  Christs.  It 
is  to  their  materialisation  of  this  and  other  doctrines,  which 
properly  are  spiritual  only, — and,  notably,  as  will  by-and-by 
be  shown,  of  the  doctrine  of  Vicarious  Atonement,  — that  is 
due  the  degradation  of  Christianity  from  a  spiritual  to  a 
materialistic,  and  therein  to  an  idolatrous  religion,  and  its 
consequent  failure,  thus  far,  to  accomplish  its  intended  end. 
But  of  this  more  on  a  future  occasion.  It  is  sufficient  to 
add  here  in  this  connection,  that,  not  in  doctrine  only,  but 
ilso  in  practice, — as  in  the  formation  of  habits  of  life, — 
astral  influence  is  always  exerted  in  the  direction  of  the 
gross,  the  selfish,  and  the  cruel.  It  is  always  the  influence 
under  which  men,  whether  they  be  conscious  of  it  or  not, 
lower  the  standard  of  their  conduct,  and  seek  their  own 


1.ECT.  III.]      THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  8l 

gratification  at  the  cost  of  others.  Of  those  hideous  blots 
upon  modern  life,  the  frequent  sins  of  violence,  greed,  and 
intemperance,  the  astrals  are  active  promoters.  And  to 
them  is  due  in  no  small  degree  that  extension  of  the 
doctrine  of  vicarious  sacrifice — originally  their  own  in- 
vention— from  the  sacerdotal  to  the  social  and  scientific 
planes,  which  has  made  of  Christendom  little  else  than  a 
vast  slaughter-house  and  chamber  of  torture.  No  less 
than  the  priest  of  a  sacrificial  religion,  are  the  butcher,  the 
sportsman,  and  the  vivisector,  ministers  to  the  astral  in 
man.  Nevertheless,  though  thus  indictable,  these  spirits 
are  not  in  themselves  evil.  They  do  but  reflect  and 
magnify  the  evil  which  men  harbour  and  encourage  in 
themselves. 

31.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  astrals,  that  they  always 
strenuously  insist  on  the  most  absolute  passivity  on  the 
part  o^  ^^ose  whom  they  influence  or  address.  This  con- 
dition of  unintelligent  passivity  must  be  carefully  distin- 
guished from  the  reasonable  reflective  state  favourable  to 
divine  communion,  and  called  the  "Night-timft  of  the 
Soul."  Such  is  the  unsubstantiality  of  the  astrals,  thau 
the  smallest  exercise  of  an  adverse  will  throws  them  into 
confusion  and  deprives  them  of  the  power  of  utterance. 
They  shun  a  person  in  whom  the  flame  of  the  spirit  burns 
up  straightly  and  ardently ;  but  where  it  spreads  out  and 
is  difl"used,  they  flock  round  him  like  moths.  The  more 
negative  the  mind  and  weak  the  will  of  the  person,  the 
more  apt  and  ready  he  is  to  receive  them.  And  the  more 
positive  his  mind  and  pronounced  his  will, — in  the  right 
direction, — the  more  open  he  is  to  Divine  communication. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Within  yields,  not  to  indifference  and 
kiaction,  but  to  enthusiasm  and  concentration.  Wherefore 
it  is  said,  "  To  labour  is  to  pray ;  to  ask  is  to  receive  ;  to 

G 


82  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

knock  is  to  have  the  door  opened."  When  we  think 
inwardly,  pray  intensely,  and  imagine  centrally,  then  we 
converse  with  God.  When  we  allow  ourselves  to  be  inert 
and  mechanically  reflective,  tlien  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  the 
astrals,  and  ready  to  accept  any  absurdity  as  divine  truth. 

32.  The  astrals,  it  will  be  useful  to  many  to  be  assured, 
not  only  cannot  confer  the  Divine  life,  they  cannot  rise  to 
be  partakers  of  it  themselves.  In  describing  them,  the 
exigencies  of  language  compel  the  use  of  terms  implying 
personality.  But  it  must  be  clearly  understood  that  these 
*•  spirits  "  are  mere  vehicles,  and  are  no  more  possessed  of 
independent  volition  or  motive  than  is  the  electric  current 
by  which  telegraphic  messages  are  conveyed,  and  which, 
like  them,  is  a  medium  of  thought ;  or  than  the  air,  which, 
according  to  circumstances,  transmits  the  germs  of  health 
or  of  disease.  Thus,  although  they  are  not  intelligent 
personalities,  they  are  often  the  media  of  intelligent  ideas, 
and  operate  as  means  of  communication  between  intelli- 
gent personalities.  Ideas,  words,  sentences,  whole  systems 
of  philosophy,  may  be  borne  in  on  the  consciousness  by 
means  of  the  currents  of  magnetic  force,  as  solid  bodies 
are  conveyed  on  a  stream,  though  water  is  no  intelligent 
agent.  The  minutest  cell  is  an  entity,  for  it  has  the  power 
of  self-propagation,  which  the  astral  has  not. 

33.  Few  are  they,  even  of  the  highest  orders  of  mind,  who 
have  not  at  times  fallen  under  astral  influence,  and  with 
disastrous  results.  And  herein  we  have  the  key,  not  only 
to  the  anomalies  of  various  systems,  otherwise  admirable 
of  philosophy  and  religion,  but  also  to  those  discordant 
utterances  of  the  most  pious  mystics,  which  have  so  sorely 
perplexed  and  distressed  their  followers.  When  we  have 
named  a  Plato,  a  Philo,  a  Paul,  a  Milton,  and  a  Boehme, 
SIS  conspicuous  instances  in  point,  enough  will  have  been 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS,  83 

said  to  indicate  the  vastness  of  the  field  to  which  the 
suggestion  applies.  Few,  indeed,  are  they  who  can  always 
find  the  force  to  penetrate  through  the  astral  and  dwell 
solely  m  the  celestial.  Hence,  for  the  true  ray  refracted 
from  above,  men  mistake  and  substitute  the  false  ray  reflected 
from  below,  foul  with  the  taint  of  earth,  and  savouring  of 
the  limitations  of  the  lower  nature,  and,  like  the  image  in 
the  glass,  exactly  reversing  the  truth.  Wherever  we  find 
a  systematic  depreciation  of  woman,  advocacy  of  bloodshed, 
and  materialisation  of  things  spiritual,  there,  we  may  be 
confident,  does  astral  influence  prevail.  The  profound 
Boehme  frankly  admits  his  own  liability  in  this  respect. 

34.  Though  inhabiting  the  astral  region,  the  spirits 
called  elemental  or  nature-spirits,  and  presiding  spirits  or 
genii  loci,  are  of  very  different  orders  from  those  just  de- 
scribed. Of  this  last  class  are  the  spirits  known  to  a-l 
early  nations  as  haunting  forests,  mountains,  cataracts, 
rivers,  and  all  unfrequented  places.  They  are  the  dryads, 
naiads,  kelpis,  elves,  fiiiries,  and  so  forth.  The  elementals 
are  often  mysterious,  terrifying,  and  dangerous.  They  are 
the  spirits  invoked  by  the  Rosicrucians  and  mediaeval 
magicians,  and  also  by  some  in  the  present  day.  They 
respond  to  pentagrams  and  other  symbols,  and  it  is  dan- 
gerous even  to  name  them  at  certain  times  and  places. 
The  most  powerful  of  them  are  the  salamanders,  or  fire- 
spirits.  The  ability  of  the  elementals  to  produce  physical 
phenomena,  and  their  lack  of  any  moral  sense,  render  them 
dangerous.  In  this  they  differ  from  the  celestial  spirits, 
for  to  these  no  physical  demonstration  is  possible,  as  they 
do  not  come  into  contact  with  Matter. 

35.  The  marvels  of  the  adept  are  performed  chiefly 
through  the  agency  of  the  elementals.  And  it  was  the 
knowledge  of  and  belief  in  them,  on  the  part  of  the  cen- 


84  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

turion  in  the  gospels,  that  eb'cited  from  Jesus  his  expression 
of  surprise,  *'  I  have  not  found  such  faith  even  in  Israel." 
For  the  centurion's  reply  had  indicated  his  recognition  of 
the  fact  that,  just  as  he  himself  had  soldiers  under  him  to  do 
his  bidding,  so  Jesus  had  spirits  under  him.  Others  than 
adepts  may  be,  and  are,  thus  associated  with  the  elementals  ; 
but  only  for  one  who,  like  an  adept,  has  first  purified  and 
perfected  himself  in  mind  and  spirit,  is  the  association  free 
from  danger  to  himself  or  to  others.  Where  not  mastered, 
they  become  masters,  and  exact  absolute  subservience, 
showing  themselves  pitiless  in  the  infliction  of  vengeance 
for  disobedience  to  their  behests. 

36.  To  this  order  and  sphere  belong  the  class  called  by 
the  Hebrews  cherubim.  They  inhabit  the  "upper  astral" 
immediately  outside  and  below  the  celestial ;  and  are  the 
**  covering  angels,"  who  encompass  and  guard  the  sanctuary 
of  the  innermost  of  man's  system,  the  "  holy  of  holies  "  of 
his  own  soul  and  spirit  Passing,  by  their  permission, 
within  the  sacred  precincts,  we  enter  the  presence  of  the 
celestials,  of  whom  now  we  will  speak. 

Part  III. 

37.  But  first,  in  order  the  better  to  comprehend  the 
procession  of  Spirit,  it  should  be  explained  that  Life  may 
be  represented  by  a  triangle,  at  the  apex  of  which  is  God. 
Of  this  triangle  the  two  sides  are  formed  by  two  streams, 
the  one  flowing  outwards,  the  other  upwards.  The  base 
may  be  taken  to  represent  the  material  plane.  Thus,  from 
God  proceed  the  Gods,  the  Elohim,  or  divine  powers,  who 
are  the  active  agents  of  creation.  From  the  Gods  proceed 
all  the  hierarchy  of  heaven,  with  the  various  orders  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest     And  the  lowest  are  the  orders  of 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  85 

the  genii,  or  guardian  angels.  These  rest  on  the  astral 
plane,  but  do  not  enter  it.  The  other  side  of  the  triangie 
is  a  continuation  of  the  base.  And  herein  is  the  significance 
alike  of  the  pyramid  and  of  the  obelisk.  The  pyramid 
represents  the  triangle  of  Life,  fourfold,  and  resting  on  the 
earth.  The  obelisk,  the  summit  only  of  which  is  pyramidal, 
represents  a  continuation  of  the  base,  and  is  covered  with 
sculptured  forms  of  animal  life.  For,  of  this  base  of  the 
triangle  of  life,  the  continuation  contains  the  lowest  ex- 
pressions of  life,  the  first  expressions  of  incarnation,  and  of 
the  stream  which,  unlike  the  first,  flows  inwards  and  up- 
wards. The  side  of  the  triangle  represented  by  this 
stream,  culminates  in  the  Christ,  and  empties  itself  into 
pure  Spirit,  which  is  God.  There  are,  consequently,  spirits 
which  by  their  natures  never  have  been  and  never  can  be 
incarnate ;  and  there  are  others  which  reach  their  perfection 
through  incarnation.  And  the  genii,  daemons,  or  guardian 
angels,  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  astrals,  but  are 
altogether  different  and  superior  in  kind.  Standing,  as  they 
do,  within  the  celestial  sphere,  their  function  is  to  lift  man 
from  below  to  their  own  high  region,  which,  properly,  is 
also  his. 

38.  The  day  and  night  of  the  Microcosm,  man,  are  its 
projective  and  reflective  states.  In  the  projective  state  we 
seek  actively  outwards  ;  we  aspire  and  will  forcibly ;  we 
hold  active  communion  with  the  God  without. 

39.  In  the  reflective  state  we  look  inwards,  we  commune 
with  our  own  heart ;  we  indraw  and  concentrate  ourselves 
secretly  and  interiorly.  During  this  condition  the  "  Moon" 
enlightens  our  hidden  chamber  with  her  torch,  and  shows 
us  ourselves  in  our  interior  recess. 

40.  Who  or  what,  then,  is  this  Moon  ?  It  is  part  of  our- 
selves, and  revolves  with  us.     It  is  our  celestial  affinity, — of 


86  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

whose  order  it  is  said,  "  Their  angels  do  always  behold  the 
face  of  My  Father." 

41.  Every  human  soul  has  a  celestial  affinity,  which  is 
part  of  his  system  and  a  type  of  his  spiritual  nature.  This 
angelic  counterpart  is  the  bond  of  union  between  the  man 
and  God ;  and  it  is  in  virtue  of  his  spiritual  nature  that  this 
angel  is  attached  to  him.  Rudimentary  creatures  have  no 
celestial  affinity ;  but  from  the  moment  that  the  soul 
quickens,  the  cord  of  union  is  established. 

42.  The  Genius  of  a  man  is  this  satellite.  Man  is  a 
planet  God — the  God  of  the  man — is  its  sun.  And  the 
moon  of  this  planet  is  Isis,  its  initiator,  angel,  or  genius. 
The  genius  ministers  to  the  man,  and  gives  him  light.  But 
the  light  he  gives  is  from  God,  and  not  of  himself.  He  is 
not  a  planet,  but  a  moon  ;  and  his  function  is  to  light  up 
the  dark  places  of  his  planet. 

43.  It  is  in  virtue  of  man's  being  a  planet  that  he  has  a 
moon.  If  he  were  not  fourfold,  as  is  the  planet,  he  could 
not  have  one.  Rudimentary  men  are  not  fourfold.  They 
have  not  the  Spirit. 

44.  Every  human  spirit-soul  has  attached  to  him  a  genius, 
variously  called,  by  Socrates,  a  daemon ;  by  Jesus,  an  angel ; 
by  the  apostles,  a  ministering  spirit.  All  these  are  but 
different  names  for  the  same  thing. 

45.  The  genius  is  linked  to  his  client  by  a  bond  of  soul- 
substance.  Persistent  ill-living  weakens  this  bond;  and 
after  several  incarnations— even  to  the  mystical  seventy 
times  seven — thus  ill -spent,  the  genius  is  freed,  and  the 
soul  definitively  lost. 

46.  The  genius  knows  well  only  the  things  relating  to 
the  person  to  whom  he  ministers.  About  other  things  he 
has  opinions  only.  The  relation  of  the  ministering  spirit  to 
his  client,  is  very  well  represented  by  that  of  the  Catholic 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  87 


confessor  to  his  penitent.  He  is  bound  to  keep  towards 
every  penitent  profound  secrecy  as  regards  the  affairs  of 
other  souls.  If  this  were  not  the  case,  there  would  be  no 
order,  and  no  secret  would  be  safe.  The  genius  of  each 
one  knows  about  another  person  only  so  much  as  that 
other's  genius  chooses  to  revccl. 

47.  The  genius  is  the  moon  to  the  planet  man,  reflecting 
to  him  the  sun,  or  God,  within  him.  For  the  divine  Spirit 
which  animates  and  eternises  the  man,  is  the  God  of  the 
man,  the  sun  that  enlightens  him.  And  this  sun  it  is,  and 
not  the  outer  and  planetary  mm,  that  his  genius,  as  satellite, 
reflects  to  him.  Thus  attached  to  the  planet,  the  genius  is 
the  complement  of  the  man ;  and  his  "  sex  "  is  always  the 
converse  of  the  planet's.  And  because  he  reflects,  not  the 
planet,  but  the  sun,  not  the  man  (as  do  the  astrals),  but  the 
God,  his  light  is  always  to  be  trusted. 

48.  The  genius  never  **  controls  "  his  client,  never  suffers 
the  soul  to  step  aside  from  the  body  to  allow  the  entrance 
of  another  spirit.  The  person  "  controlled  "  by  an  astral  or 
elementary,  on  the  contrary,  si)eaks  not  in  his  own  person, 
but  in  that  of  the  spirit  operating.  And  the  gestures, 
expression,  intonation,  and  piich  of  voice,  change  with  the 
obsessing  spirit.  A  person  prophesying  speaks  always  in 
the  first  person,  and  says,  eitlier,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord," 
or,  "  So  says  some  one  else,"  never  losing  his  own  person- 
ality. 

49.  The  genii  are  not  fighting  spirits,  and  cannot  prevent 
evils.  They  were  allowed  to  minister  to  Jesus  only  after 
his  exhaustion  in  combat  with  the  lower  spirits.  Only  they 
are  attacked  by  these,  who  are  worth  attacking.  No  man 
ever  got  to  the  promised  lard  without  going  through  the 
desert.  The  best  weapon  against  them  is  prayer.  Prayer 
means  the  intense  direction  of  the  will  and  desire  towards 


88  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  Highest,  an  unchanging  intent  to  know  nothing  but  the 
Highest,  So  long  as  Moses  held  his  hands  up  towards 
heaven,  the  Israelites  prevailed;  when  he  dropped  them, 
then  the  Amalekites. 

50.  Now,  there  are  two  kinds  of  memory,  the  memory  of 
the  organism  and  the  memory  of  the  soul.  The  first  is 
possessed  by  all  creatures.  The  second,  which  is  obtained 
by  Recovery,  belongs  to  the  fully  regenerate  man.  P'or 
the  Divine  Spirit  of  a  man  is  not  one  with  his  soal  until 
regeneration,  which  is  the  intimate  union  constituting  what, 
mystically,  is  called  the  "  marriage "  of  the  hierophant,  an 
event  in  the  life  of  the  initiate,  one  of  the  stages  of  which 
is  set  forth  in  the  parable  of  the  Marri.ige  in  Cana  of 
Galilee. 

51.  When  this  union  takes  place,  there  is  no  longer  need 
of  an  initiator  ;  for  then  the  office  of  the  genius  is  ended. 
For,  as  the  moon,  or  Isis,  of  the  planet  man,  the  genius 
reflects  to  the  Soul  the  Divine  Spirit,  with  which  she  is  not 
yet  fully  united.  In  all  things  is  order.  Wherefore,  as 
with  the  planets,  so  with  the  Microcosm.  They  who  are 
nearest  Divinity,  need  no  moon.  But  so  long  as  they  have 
night, — so  long,  that  is,  as  any  part  of  the  soul  remains 
unilluminated,  and  her  memory  or  perception  obscure, — so 
long  the  mirror  of  the  angel  continues  to  reflect  the  sun  to 
he  soul. 

52.  For  the  memory  of  the  soul  is  recovered  by  a  three- 
'bld  operation — that  of  the  soul  herself,  of  the  moon,  and 
if  the  sun.  The  genius  is  not  an  informing  spirit.  He  can 
•.ell  nothing  to  the  soul.  All  that  she  receives  is  already 
iiers.  But  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  it  would  remain 
undiscovered,  but  for  the  torch  of  the  angel  who  enlightens. 
*  Yea,"  says  the  angel  genius  to  his  cHent,  "  I  illuminate 
:hee,  but  I  instruct  thee  not     I  warn  thee,  but  I  fight  not. 


Lect.  III.]     THE  DISCERNING   OF  SPIRITS. 


I  attend,  but  I  lead  not     Thy  treasure  is  within  thyself. 
My  light  showeth  where  it  lieth."i 

53.  When  regeneration  is  fully  attained,  the  divine  Spirit 
alone  instructs  the  hierophant.  "  For  the  gates  of  his  city 
shall  never  be  shut ;  there  shall  be  no  night  there  ;  the  night 
shall  be  no  more.  And  they  shall  not  need  the  light  of  the 
lamp,  because  the  Lord  God  shall  enlighten  them."  The 
prophet  is  a  man  illumined  by  his  angel.  The  Christ  Is  a 
man  married  to  the  Spirit.  And  he  returns  out  of  pure  love 
to  redeem,  needing  no  more  to  return  to  the  flesh  for  his 
own  sake.  Wherefore  he  is  said  to  come  down  from 
heaven.  For  he  has  attained,  and  is  a  Medium  for  the 
Highest.  He  baptises  with  the  holy  Ghost,  and  with  the 
Divine  Fire  itself.  He  is  always  "  in  Heaven."  And  in 
that  he  ascends,  it  is  because  the  Spirit  uplifts  him,  even 
the  Spirit  who  descends  upon  him.  "And  in  that  he 
descends,  it  is  because  he  has  first  ascended  beyond  all 
spheres  into  the  highest  Presence.  For  he  that  ascends, 
ascends  because  he  also  descended  first  into  the  lower  parts 
Df  the  earth.  He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  who 
ascended  above  all  the  heavens,  to  fill  all  things."  Such  a 
one  returns,  therefore,  from  a  higher  world ;  he  belongs  no 
more  to  the  domain  of  Earth.  But  he  comes  from  the  sun 
itself,  or  from  some  nearer  sphere  to  the  sun  than  ours, 
having  passed  from  the  lowest  upwards. 

54.  And  what,  it  will  be  asked,  of  the  genius  himself? 
Is  he  sorry  when  his  client  attains  Perfection,  and  needs 
him  no  more  ? 

"  He  that  hath  the  bride  is  the  bridegroom.  And  he  that 
stand  eth  by  rejoiceth  greatly  because  of  the  bridegroom's 
voice."     The  genius,  therefore,  returns  to  his   source,  for 

^  Respecting  the  complete,  final  recovery  of  memory,  sec  Appen- 
dices, No.  II. 


90  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

his  mission  is  ended,  and  his  Sabbath  is  come.     He  is  od*» 
with  the  Twain. 

55.  The  genius,  then,  remains  with  his  dient  so  long  as 
the  man  is  fourfold.  A  beast  has  no  genius.  A  Christ  has 
none.  For  first,  all  is  latent  light.  That  is  one.  And  this 
one  becomes  two  ;  that  is,  body  and  astral  body.  And  these 
two  become  three ;  that  is,  a  rational  soul  is  born  in  the 
midst  of  the  astral  body.  This  rational  soul  is  the  person  ; 
itself  dual,  in  virtue  of  its  earthly  and  its  divine  parts.  And 
from  that  moment  this  personality  is  an  individual  existence, 
as  a  plant  or  as  an  animal.  These  three  become  four  ;  that 
is,  human.  And  the  fourth  is  the  Nous^  not  yet  one  with 
the  soul,  but  overshadowing  it,  and  transmitting  light  as  it 
were  through  a  glass,  that  is,  through  the  initiator.  But 
when  the  four  become  three, —  that  is,  when  the  "marriage" 
takes  place,  and  the  soul  and  the  spirit  are  indissolubly 
united, — there  is  no  longer  need  either  of  migration  or  of 
genius.  For  the  Nous  has  become  one  with  the  soul,  and 
the  cord  of  union  is  dissolved.  And  yet  again,  the  three 
become  twain  at  the  dissolution  of  the  body ;  and  again,  the 
twain  become  one,  that  is,  the  Christ-spirit-soul.  The 
Divine  Spirit  and  the  genius,  therefore,  are  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  diverse,  nor  yet  as  identical.  The  genius  is  flame, 
and  is  celestial ;  that  is,  he  is  Spirit,  and  one  in  nature  with 
the  Divine ;  for  his  light  is  the  Divine  Light.  He  is  as  a 
glass,  as  a  cord,  as  a  bond  between  the  soul  and  her  divine 
part.  He  is  the  clear  atmosphere  through  which  the  divine 
ray  passes,  making  a  path  for  it  in  the  astral  medium. 

56.  In  the  celestial  plane,  all  things  are  personal.  And 
therefore  the  bond  between  the  soul  and  spirit  is  a  person. 
But  when  a  man  is  what  is  mystically  called  "  born  again," 
he  no  longer  needs  the  bond  which  unites  him  to  his  Divine 
Source.      The  genius,  or  flame,  therefore,  returns  to  that 


Lect.  III.]      THE  DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  91 

Source ;  and  this  being  itself  united  to  the  soul,  the  genius 
also  becomes  one  with  the  Twain.  For  the  genius  is  the 
Divine  Light  in  the  sense  that  he  is  but  a  divided  tongue 
of  it,  having  no  isolating  vehicle.  But  the  tincture  of  this 
flame  differs  according  to  the  celestial  atmosphere  of  the 
particular  souL  The  Divine  Light,  indeed,  is  white,  being 
Seven  in  One.  But  the  genius  is  a  flame  of  a  single  colour 
only.  And  this  colour  he  takes  from  the  soul,  and  by  that 
ray  transmits  to  her  the  light  of  the  Nous,  her  Divine 
Spouse.  The  angel-genii  are  of  all  the  tinctures  of  all  the 
colours. 

57.  While  in  the  celestial  plane  all  things  are  persons, 
in  the  astral  plane  they  are  reflects,  or  at  most  impersonal. 
The  genius  is  a  person  because  he  is  a  celestial,  and  of  soul- 
spirit,  or  substantial  nature.  But  the  astrals  are  of  fluidic 
nature,  having  no  personal  part.  In  the  celestial  plane, 
spirit  and  substance  are  one,  dual  in  unity ;  and  thus  are 
all  celestials  constituted.  But  in  the  astral  plane  they  have 
no  individual,  and  no  divine  part.  They  are  protoplasmic 
only,  without  either  nucleus  or  nucleolus. 

58.  The  voice  of  the  angel-genius  is  the  voice  of  God ; 
for  God  speaks  through  him  as  a  man  through  the  horn  of 
a  trumpet.  He  may  not  be  adored  ;  for  he  is  the  instru- 
ment of  God,  and  man's  minister.  But  he  must  be  obeyed  ; 
for  he  has  no  voice  of  his  own,  but  shows  the  will  of  the 
Spirit. 

59.  They,  therefore,  who  desire  the  Highest,  will  not 
seek  to  "  controls  ;  "  but  will  keep  their  temple — which  is 
their  body — for  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts ;  and  will  turn  out 
of  it  the  money-changers  and  the  dove-sellers  and  the 
dealers  in  curious  arts,  yea,  with  a  scourge  of  cords,  if  need 
be. 

60.  Of  the  superior  orders  in  the  celestial  hierarchy — of 


92  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

those,  that  is,  who,  being  Gods  and  Archangels,  are  to  the 
Supreme  Spirit  as  the  seven  rays  of  the  prism  are  to  light, 
and  the  seven  notes  of  the  scale  are  to  sound — the  know- 
ledge appertains  to  the  Greater  Mysteries,  and  is  reserved 
for  those  who  have  fulfilled  the  conditions  requisite  for 
initiation  therein.  Of  those  conditions  the  first  is  the  com- 
plete renunciation  of  a  diet  of  flesh,  the  reason  being  four- 
fold,— spiritual,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical, — according 
to  the  fourfold  constitution  of  man.  This  is  imperative. 
Man  cannot  receive,  the  Gods  will  not  impart,  the  mysteries 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  other  terms.  The  conditions 
are  God's ;  the  will  is  with  man.^ 

'  See  Appendices,  No.  III.,  Part  I. 


LECTURE   THE   FOURTR 
THE  ATONEMENT. 

Part  I. 

I.  We  have  chosen  to  speak  thus  early  in  our  series  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  because  it  is  that  around  which 
all  religious  teaching,  ancient  and  modern,  pure  and  corrupt, 
is  alike  grouped,  and  in  which  it  all  centres.  Constituting 
thus  the  pivot  and  point  of  radiation  of  Religion  itself,  this 
doctrine,  expounded  in  its  pure  and  ancient  sense,  is  at  once 
the  glory  of  the  saint  and  the  hope  of  the  fallen  ;  expounded 
in  its  modern  and  corrupt  sense,  it  is  to  the  latter  a  licence, 
and  to  the  former  a  shame  and  perplexity. 

2.  As  will  by-and-by  be  fully  shown,  sacred  Mysteries 
are,  like  all  things  kosmic,  fourfold^  in  that  they  contain, 
like  the  whorls  of  a  flower,  or  the  elements  of  an  organic 
cell,  four  mutually  related  and  yet  distinct  Modes  and  Ideas. 
And  these  four  are — from  without  inwards — the  Physical, 
the  Intellectual,  the  Ethical,  and  the  Spiritual.  We  propose 
in  this  lecture  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement 
from  each  of  these  points  of  view,  in  order  to  do  which  with 
clearness  and  without  fear  of  misapprehension,  we  shall  first 
expose  the  common  errors  in  regard  to  it. 

3.  The  popular  and  corrupt  view  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement  presents  us  with  one  of  the  most  salient  exam- 
ples extant  of  that  materialism  in   things  religious,  which 


94  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

constitutes  Idolatry.  To  commit  the  sin  of  Idolatry  is  to 
materialise  spiritual  Truth,  by  concealing  under  gross  images 
the  real  substantial  Ideas  implied,  and  setting  up  the  images 
for  worship  in  place  of  the  celestial  verities.  Now,  the  cur- 
rent doctrine  of  Christ's  x\tonement  starts  with  the  irrational, 
and  therefore  false,  hypothesis,  that  between  physical  blood 
and  moral  guilt  there  is  a  direct  and  congruous  relation,  in 
virtue  of  which  the  opening  of  veins  and  laceration  of  mus 
cular  tissue  constitute  a  medium  of  exchange  by  which  may 
be  ransomed  an  indefinite  number  of  otherwise  forfeited 
souls. 

4.  In  opposition  to  this  and  other  kindred  conceptions, 
it  is  necessary  to  insist  on  the  principle  which,  being,  so  to 
speak,  the  corner-stone  and  centre  of  gravitation  of  Religion, 
was  in  our  Introductory  Lecture  prominently  placed  before 
the  reader, — the  principle  that  sacred  Mysteries  relate  only 
to  the  Soul,  and  have  no  concern  with  phenomena  or  any 
physical  appearances  or  transactions.  The  key-note  of 
Religion  is  sounded  in  the  words,  '*  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world '^  All  her  mysteries,  all  her  oracles,  are  conceived 
in  this  spirit,  and  similarly  are  all  sacred  scriptures  to  be 
interpreted.  For  anything  in  Religion  to  be  true  and  strong, 
it  must  be  true  and  strong  for  the  SouL  The  Soul  is  the 
true  and  only  person  concerned  ;  and  any  relation  which 
Religion  may  have  to  the  body  or  phenomenal  man,  is  in- 
direct, and  by  correspondence  only.  It  is  for  the  Soul  that 
the  Divine  Word  is  written ;  and  it  is  her  nature,  her  history, 
her  functions,  her  conflicts,  her  redemption,  which  are  ever 
the  theme  of  sacred  narrative,  prophecy,  and  doctrine. 

5.  But  a  priesthood  fallen  from  the  apprehension  of 
spiritual  things,  and  only  competent,  therefore,  to  discern 
the  things  of  sense, — a  priesthood  become,  in  a  word,  idola- 
trous,— is  necessarily  incapable  of  attaining  to  the  level  of 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  95 

the  original  framers  of  the  Mysteries  appertaining  to  the 
Soul ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  invariably  in  the  hands  of 
such  priesthood,  the  Soul  has  been  ignored  in  favour  of  the 
body,  and  a  signification  grossly  materialistic  substituted  for 
that  which  had  been  addressed  only  to  the  spiritual  man. 

6.  To  the  thoughtful  mind  there  is  nothing  more  per- 
plexing than  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  bloody  sacrifice, 
commonly  believed  to  be  inculcated  in  that  portion  of  the 
Hebrew  scriptures  which  is  known  as  the  Pentateuch.  And 
the  perplexity  is  increased  by  a  comparison  of  this  with  the 
prophetical  books  in  which  occur  such  utterances  as  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  Sacrifice  and  oblation  Thou  dost  not  desire  :  but  Thou 
hast  opened  ears  for  me. 

"  Burnt- offering  and  sin-offering  Thou  wouldest  not;  but 
that  I  should  come  to  do  Thy  Will. 

"  The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit,  a  lowly  and 
contrite  heart,  O  God." 

And,  yet  more  emphatically  and  indignantly,  the  prophet 
Isaias  : — 

"  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  rulers  of  Sodom,  give 
ear  to  the  law  of  our  God,  ye  people  of  Gomorrha. 

"  To  what  purpose  do  you  offer  me  the  multitude  of  your 
vict/ms?  saith  the  Lord.  I  desire  not  holocausts  of  rams 
aiid  fatlings,  the  blood  of  calves,  and  sheep,  and  goats. 

"  When  you  come  to  appear  before  Me,  who  hath  required 
these  things  at  your  hands  ? 

"  Offer  sacrifice  no  more,  your  new  moons  and  festivals  I 
cannot  abide  ;  your  assemblies  are  wicked. 

**  My  soul  hateth  your  solemnities,  when  you  stretch  forth 
your  hands  I  turn  away  Mine  eyes,  for  your  hands  are  full 
of  blood." 

And  again,  in  Jeremias : — 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


"I,  the  Lord,  spake  not  to  your  fathers,  and  I  com- 
manded them  not  in  the  day  that  I  brought  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  concerning  the  matter  of  burnt-offerings 
and  sacrifices. 

"  But  this  one  thing  I  commanded  them,  saying.  Hearken 
to  My  voice,  and  walk  in  My  way. 

"  But  they  have  set  their  abominations  in  the  house  that 
is  called  by  My  Name,  to  pollute  it." 

7.  In  the  presence  of  these  truly  Divine  words,  what 
must  be  our  verdict  upon  certain  contrary  declarations  and 
prescriptions  in  the  Pentateuch?  We  must  say,  as  indeed 
all  sound  criticism  and  inference  based  on  careful  examina- 
tion of  internal  evidence  justify  us  in  saying,  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  Five  Books,  and  especially  the  chapters  prescrip- 
tive of  ritual  and  oblations,  are  of  far  later  date  than  that 
usually  assigned  to  them,  and  are  not  in  any  sense  the  work 
of  the  inspired  Moses,  or  of  his  initiates  and  immediate 
successors,  but  of  a  corrupted  priesthood,  in  the  age  of  the 
kings — a  priesthood  greedy  of  gifts,  tithes,  and  perquisites ; 
ever  replacing  the  spirit  by  the  letter,  and  the  idea  by  the 
symbol ;  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  Man,  and  therefore  ever 
trampling  under  foot  his  true  and  better  self,  the  Soul, 
whose  type  is  Woman ;  "taking  away  the  key  of  knowledge, 
entering  not  themselves  into  the  Kingdom,  and  hindering 
those  who  would  have  entered."  But  for  these  bloody  and 
idolatrous  sacrifices,  there  would  have  been  neither  occupa- 
tion nor  maintenance  for  the  numerous  ecclesiastics  who 
subsisted  by  means  of  them  ;  and  but  for  the  false  and  cor- 
rupt conception  of  a  God  whose  just  anger  was  capable  of 
being  appeased  by  slaughter, — and  this  of  the  innocent, — 
and  whose  favour  could  be  bought  by  material  gifts,  the 
whole  colossal  scheme  of  ceremonial  rites  and  incantations 
which  gave  the  priesthood  power  and  dominion  over  the 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  97 

people,  would  never  have  found  place  in  a  system  originally 
addressed  wholly  to  the  needs  of  the  soul.^ 

Thus,  even  with  the  Old  Testament  alone  as  evidence, 
our  verdict  must  be  given  to  the  Prophet  as  against  the 
Priest,  seeing  that  while  the  former,  as  the  true  Man  of  God, 
directed  his  appeal  to  the  soul,  the  latter,  as  the  minister  of 
sense,  cared  only  to  exalt  his  own  Order,  no  matter  at  what 
cost  to  the  principles  of  religion. 

8.  Turning  to  the  New  Testament,  a  significant  fact  con- 
fronts us.  It  is,  that  Jesus  appears  never  to  have  sanctioned 
by  his  presence  any  of  the  Temple  services  \  an  abstention 
which  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  a  tacit  protest  against  the 
sacrificial  rites  then  in  vogue.  Nor  in  all  the  utterances 
ascribed  to  him  is  there  any  reference  to  these  rites  even  in 
connection  with  the  common  belief  that  they  were  designed 
as  types  of  the  death  supposed  to  be  ordained  for  the 
Messiah  in  his  character  of  Redeemer  and  Victim. 

9.  And  truly,  it  is  inconceivable  that  if  the  special  object 
and  end  of  his  incarnation  had  been,  as  is  currently  held, 
to  be  immolated  on  the  Cross,  a  spotless  sin-offering  for 
men,  in  propitiation  of  the  wrath  of  God  against  the  guilty, 
no  word  implying  a  doctrine  so  essential  and  tremendous 
should  have  been  uttered  by  the  Divine  Victim  himself,  or 
that  it  should  have  been  left  to  later  statements  of  uncertain 
authorship  and  interpretation,  and  chiefly  to  men  who  never 
were  disciples  of  Jesus — Paul  and  Apollos — to  formulate 
and  expound  it.  Nor  can  we  regard  as  other  than  fatuous 
the  conduct  of  a  priesthood,  which,  while  throwing  upon 
the  Cross  of  Calvary  the  burden  of  the  salvation  of  the 
whole  world  in  all  ages,  and  teaching  mankind  that  to  the 
innocent  sacrifice  thereon  offered  is  alone  due  their  rescue 
from  eternal  damnation,  yet  sees  fit  to  execrate  and  brand 

*  See  Appendices,  No.  I.,  Part  il. 

H 


98  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

with  infamy  the  very  men  who  procured  the  consummation 
of  that  sacrifice, — and  to  whom,  therefore,  next  to  Jesus 
himself,  the  world  is  indebted  for  ransom  from  hell,  and 
for  the  opening  of  the  gates  of  heaven, — Caiaphas,  Pontius 
Pilate,  and — most  important  of  all — Judas  the  traitor  ! 

10.  The  truth  is,  that  so  far  from  depicting  Priest  and 
Prophet  as  co-operating  for  the  welfare  of  man,  the  sacred 
scriptures  exhibit  them  in  constant  conflict ;— the  Priest,  as 
the  minister  of  Sense,  perpetually  undoing  the  work  per- 
formed by  the  Prophet  as  the  minister  of  the  Intuition. 
And  so  it  is  seen  that  when,  at  length,  the  greatest  of  all 
the  prophetical  race  appears,  the  priesthood  does  not  fail 
to  compass  his  death  also,  and  subsequently  to  exalt  the 
crime  into  a  sacrifice,  and  that  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
lender  it  the  apotheosis  of  the  whole  sacerdotal  system, 
and  to  advance  the  sacerdotal  order  to  the  position  which, 
throughout  Christendom,  it  has  ever  since  maintained  1 

Part  IL 

11.  At  this  point  another  aspect  of  our  subject  claims 
attention.  It  relates,  not  to  any  particular  sacrifice,  but 
to  the  whole  question  of  the  origin  and  nature  of  bloody 
sacrifices  generally.  And  it  involves  reference  to  influences 
and  motives  yet  darker  and  more  potent  than  any  mere 
human  desire  of  gain  or  power,  in  exposing  which  it  will 
be  necessary  to  speak  of  occult  subjects,  unfamiliar  save 
tt",  those  who,  being  acquainted  with  the  science  of  magic, 
understand  at  least  something  of  the  nature  and  conditions 
of  "  spiritual "  apparitions. 

12.  The  efl'usion  of  physical  blood  has,  in  all  ages,  been 
a  means  whereby  magicians  have  evoked  astral  phantoms 
or  phantasmagoric  reflects  in  the  magnetic  light      These 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  99 

efflorescences  of  the  lower  atmosphere  immediately  related 
to  the  body,  have  a  direct  affinity  for  the  essential  element, 
called  by  the  old  physiologists  the  "vital  spirits,"  of  the 
blood,  and  are  enabled  by  means  of  its  effusion  to  manifest 
themselves  materially.  Thus,  as  one  recent  writer  says, 
"Blood  begets  phantoms,  and  its  emanations  furnish  certain 
spirits  with  the  materials  requisite  to  fashion  their  temporary 
appearances."^  Another  speaks  of  blood  as  "the  first 
incarnation  of  the  universal  fluid,  materialised  vital  light, 
the  arcanum  of  physical  life."^  The  famous  Paracelsus 
also  asserts  that  by  the  fumes  of  blood  one  is  able  to  call 
forth  any  spirit  desired,  for  by  its  emanations  the  spirit  can 
build  for  itself  a  visible  body.  This,  he  says,  is  Sorcery,  a 
term  always  of  ill-repute.  The  hierophants  of  Baal  made 
incisions  all  over  their  bodies,  in  order  to  produce  visible 
objective  phantoms.  There  are  sects  in  the  East,  especially 
in  Persia,  whose  devotees  celebrate  religious  orgies  in  which, 
whirling  frantically  round  in  a  ring,  they  wound  themselves 
and  each  other  with  knives,  until  their  garments  and  the 
ground  are  soaked  with  blood.  Before  the  end  of  the 
orgy,  every  man  has  evoked  a  spectral  companion  which 
whirls  round  with  him,  and  which  may  sometimes  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  devotee  by  having  hair  on  its  head,  the 
devotees  being  closely  shorn.  The  Yakuts  of  Eastern 
Siberia  still  maintain  the  practice  of  the  once  famed  witches 
of  Thessaly,  offering  nocturnal  sacrifices  and  evoking  evil 
spectres  to  work  mischief  for  them.  Without  the  fumes 
of  blood  these  beings  could  not  become  visible ;  and  were 
they  deprived  of  it,  they  would,  the  Yakuts  believe,  suck 
it  from  the  veins  of  the  living.  It  is  further  held  by  these 
people  that  good  spirits  do  not  thus  manifest  themselves 


^  Blavatsky,  Isis  Unveiled. 

*  "  Eliphas  Levi,"  La  Haute  Magie* 


100  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


to  view,  but  merely  make  their  presence  felt,  and  require 
no  preparatory  ceremonial.  The  Yezidis,  inhabiting  Ar- 
menia and  Syria,  hold  intercourse  with  certain  aerial  spirits 
which  they  ziSS.  Jakshas^ — probably  mere  astral  phantoms, — 
and  evoke  them  by  means  of  whirling  dances,  accompanied, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  sect  already  mentioned,  by  self  in- 
flicted wounds.  Among  the  manifestations  thus  obtained  is 
the  apparition  of  enormous  globes  of  fire,  which  gradually 
assume  grotesque  and  uncouth  animal  forms.^ 

13.  Reverting  to  earlier  times,  we  find  in  the  writings  of 
Epiphanius,  a  passage  concerning  the  death  of  Zacharias, 
which  bears  directly  on  the  Levitical  practice  in  regard  to 
this  subject.  He  says  that  Zacharias,  having  seen  a  vision 
in  the  Temple,  and  being,  through  surprise,  about  to  dis- 
close it,  was  suddenly  and  mysteriously  deprived  of  the 
power  of  speech.  He  had  seen  at  the  time  of  offering 
incense  after  the  evening  sacrifice,  a  figure  in  the  form  of 
an  ass,  standing  by  the  altar.  Going  out  to  the  people,  he 
exclaimed, — "  Woe  unto  you  !  whom  do  ye  worship  ?  "  and 
immediately  "  he  who  had  appeared  to  him  in  the  Temple 
struck  him  with  dumbness."  Afterwards,  however,  he  re- 
covered his  speech  and  related  the  vision,  in  consequence 
of  which  indiscretion  the  priests  slew  him.  It  was  asserted 
by  the  Gnostics  that  the  use  of  the  little  bells  attached  to 
the  garments  of  the  high-priest  was  enjoined  by  the  Jewish 
ordinance-makers  with  special  reference  to  these  apparitions, 
in  order  that  on  his  entry  into  the  sanctuary  at  the  time  of 
sacrifice,  the  goblins  might  have  warning  of  his  approach 
in  time  to  avoid  being  caught  in  their  natural  hideous 
shapes. 

14.  An  experience  of  the  writer's  received  while  pre- 
paring this  lecture  well  illustrates  the  foregoing  citations. 

*  Lady  Hester  Stanhope. 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  loi 

Conducted  in  magnetic  sleep  by  her  guardian  Genius  into 
a  large  hall  of  temple-like  structure,  she  beheld  a  number 
of  persons  grouped  in  adoration  around  four  altars  upon 
which  were  laid  as  many  slaughtered  bullocks.  And  above 
the  altars,  in  the  fume  of  the  spirits  of  the  blood  arising 
from  the  slain  beasts,  were  misty  colossal  figures,  half-formed 
only,  from  the  waist  upwards,  and  resembling  the  Gods. 
One  of  them  in  particular  attracted  the  writer's  attention. 
It  was  the  head  and  bust  of  a  woman  of  enormous  pro- 
portions and  wearing  the  insignia  of  Diana.  And  the 
Genius  said :  "  These  are  the  Astral  Spirits,  and  thus  will 
they  do  until  the  end  of  the  worlds 

Such  were  the  spurious  phantom-images,  which,  with 
emaciated  forms  and  pallid  countenances,  presented  them- 
selves to  the  Emperor  Julian,  and,  claiming  to  be  the 
veritable  Immortals,  commanded  him  to  renew  the  sacri- 
fices, for  the  fumes  of  which,  since  the  establishment  of 
Christianity,  they  had  been  pining.  And  he,  able  only  to 
see,  but  not  to  discern,  spirits,  took  these  spectres — as  so 
many  still  do — for  what  they  pretended  to  be,  and,  seek- 
ing to  fulfil  their  behests,  earned  for  himself  the  title  of 
"  Apostate."  To  the  impulsion  of  spirits  of  this  order  are 
to  be  ascribed  those  horrible  human  sacrifices  of  which  in 
ancient  times  Canaan  was  the  chief  scene  and  Molech  the 
chief  recipient.  In  these  sacrifices  the  Jews  themselves 
largely  indulged,  the  crowning  example  being  that  of  which 
the  high  priest  Caiaphas  was  the  prompter. 

15.  But  idolatry  and  bloody  sacrifice  have  ever  been  held 
in  abhorrence  by  the  true  prophet  and  the  true  redeemer. 
The  aspect  under  which  these  things  present  themselves 
to  the  eyes  of  such  men  is  epitomised  in  the  divine  and 
beautiful  rebuke  addressed  by  Gautama  Buddha  to  the 
priests  of  his  day,  for  an  exquisite  rendering  of  which  the 


102  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

reader  is  referred  to  Sir  Edwin  Arnold's  recent  poem, 
**  The  Light  of  Asia."  ^  Buddha,  it  will  be  observed,  classed 
with  the  practice  of  bloody  sacrifice  the  habit  of  flesh- 
eating,  and  included  both  in  his  unsparing  denunciation. 
The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Man,  as  the  Microcosm, 
resembles  in  all  things  the  Macrocosm,  and  like  the  latter, 
therefore,  he  comprises  within  his  own  system  an  astral 
plane  or  circulus.  In  eating  flesh,  and  thereby  ingesting 
the  blood  principle, -^^^/^  a7id  blood  beiiig  inseparable, — he 
sacrifices  to  the  astral  emanations  of  his  own  magnetic 
atmosphere,  and  so  doing,  ministers  to  the  terrene  and 
corruptible.  This  it  is  to  "  eat  of  things  ofi"ered  to  idols," 
for  blood  is  the  food  of  the  astral  eidola^  and  the  eater  of 
blood  is  infested  by  them. 

1 6.  It  should  be  observed  that  this  astral  medium  and 
its  emanations  are  incapable  of  originating  ideas^  for  these 
are  positive  entities  and  come  from  the  celestial  or  spiritual 
"  heaven."  The  astral,  being  reflective  merely  and  unsub- 
stantial, receives  divine  ideas  but  to  reverse  and  travesty 
them.  Thus,  the  doctrine  of  sacrifice  and  of  atonement 
are  true  doctrines,  and  of  celestial  origin ;  but  the  sacrifice 
must  be  of  the  lower  human  self  to  the  higher  divine  self, 
and  of  personal  extraneous  affections  to  the  love  of  God 
and  of  principles.  But  the  astral  mind,  reversing  the  truth, 
converts  these  aspirations  into  the  sacrifice  of  the  higher 
to  the  lower  nature,  of  the  soul  to  the  body,  and  of  others 
to  oneself.  Again,  the  truth  that  man  is  saved  by  the 
perpetual  sacrifice  of  God's  own  Life  and  Spirit  to  be  his 
life  and  spirit,  finds  a  like  distortion  in  the  notion  that 
man  is  saved  by  taking  the  life  of  a  God  and  appropriating 
his  merits.     The  true  meaning  of  the  word  "  atonement "  is 

*  P.  129  ss.  The  appearance  of  this  remarkable  book  constitutes 
a  sign  of  the  times  of  no  small  importance. 


Lect.  IV.]  THE    ATONEMENT.  103 

reconciliation^  rather  than  "  propitiation."     For  "  Heaven  " 
cannot  be  "  propitiated  "  save  by  at-one-ment. 

17.  As,  moreover,  the  astral  and  the  physical  planes  are 
intimately  united,  and  both  are  ephemeral  and  evanescent, 
of  Time  and  of  Matter,  that  which  feeds  and  ministers  to 
the  astral  stimulates  the  physical,  to  its  own  detriment  and 
that  of  the  inner  and  permanent  Twain, — soul  and  spirit, — 
the  true  man  and  his  Divine  Particle, — since  these,  being 
celestial,  have  neither  part  nor  communion  with  the  merely 
phenomenal  and  phantasmal.  For  the  astral  emanations 
resemble  clouds  which  occupy  the  earthy  atmosphere  be- 
tween us  and  heaven,  and  which,  filmy  and  incorporeal 
though  they  be,  are  nevertheless  material,  and  are  born  of 
the  exhalations  of  earth.  To  perpetuate  and  do  sacrifice 
to  these  phantoms,  is  to  thicken  the  atmosphere,  to  obscure 
the  sky,  to  gather  fog  and  darkness  and  tempest  about  us, 
as  did  the  old  storm-witches  of  the  North. 

Such  is  that  worship  which  is  spoken  of  as  the  worship 
of  the  Serpent  of  the  Dust ;  and  thus  does  he  who  ingests 
blood ;  for  he  makes  thereby  oblation  to  the  infernal  gods 
of  his  own  system,  as  does  the  sacrificing  priest  to  the 
powers  of  the  same  sphere  of  the  Macrocosm. 

18.  And  this  occult  reason  for  abstaining  from  the  inges- 
tion of  flesh,  is  that  which  in  all  ages  and  under  all  creeds 
has  ever  powerfully  and  universally  influenced  the  Recluse, 
the  Saint,  and  the  Adept  in  Religion.  As  is  well  known, 
the  use  of  flesh  was  in  former  times  invariably  abjured  by 
the  hermit-fathers,  by  the  ascetics  of  both  East  and  West, 
and  in  short  by  all  religious  persons,  male  and  female,  who, 
aspiring  after  complete  detachment  from  the  things  of  sense, 
sought  interior  vision  and  intimate  union  with  the  Divine ; 
and  it  is  now  similarly  abjured  by  the  higher  devotional 
orders  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  of  Oriental  adepts. 


104  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Let  us  say  boldly,  and  without  fear  of  contradiction  from 
those  who  really  know^  that  the  Interior  Life  and  the  clear 
Heaven  are  not  attainable  by  men  who  are  partakers  of 
blood ; — men  whose  mental  atmosphere  is  thick  with  the 
fumes  of  daily  sacrifices  to  idols.  For  so  long  as  these 
shadows  infest  the  Man,  obscuring  the  expanse  of  the 
higher  and  divine  Ether  beyond,  he  remains  unable  to 
detach  himself  from  the  love  for  Matter  and  from  the 
attractions  of  Sense,  and  can  at  best  but  dimly  discern 
the  Light  of  the  Spiritual  Sun 

19.  Abstinence  from  bloody  oblations  on  all  planes,  is 
therefore  the  gate  of  the  Perfect  Way,  the  test  of  illumina- 
tion, the  touchstone  and  criterion  of  sincere  desire  for  the 
fulness  of  Beatific  Vision. 

The  Holy  Grail,  the  New  Wine  of  God's  Kingdom,  of 
which  all  souls  must  drink  if  they  would  live  for  ever,  and  in 
whose  cleansing  tide  their  garments  must  be  made  white, 
is,  most  assuredly,  not  that  plasmic  humour  of  the  physical 
body,  common  to  all  grades  of  material  hfe,  which  is  known 
to  us  under  the  name  of  blood.  But,  as  this  physical 
humour  is  the  life  of  the  phenomenal  body,  so  is  the  blood 
of  Christ  the  Life  of  the  Soul,  and  it  is  in  this  ulterior 
sense,  which  is  alone  related  to  the  Soul,  that  the  word  is 
used  by  those  who  framed  the  expression  of  the  Mysteries. 

Part  III. 

20.  This  brings  us  to  speak  of  what  the  Atonement  is, 
and  of  the  sense  in  which  we  are  to  understand  it,  in  its 
fourfold  interpretation. 

First,  let  us  remind  the  reader,  the  Cross  and  the  Cruci- 
fied are  symbols  which  come  down  to  us  from  pre-historic 
ages,  and  are  to  be  found  depicted  on  the  ruined  monuments, 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  105 

temples,  and  sarcophagi  of  all  nations, — Coptic,  Ethiopian, 
Hindu,  Mexican,  Tartar.  In  the  rites  of  all  these  peoples, 
and  especially  in  the  ceremonials  of  initiation  held  in  the 
Lodges  of  their  Mysteries,  the  Cross  had  a  prominent  place. 
It  was  traced  on  the  forehead  of  the  neophyte  with  water 
or  oil,  as  now  in  Catholic  Baptism  and  Confirmation  ;  it 
was  broidered  on  the  sacred  vestments,  and  carried  in  the 
hand  of  the  ofificiating  hierophant,  as  may  be  seen  in  all  the 
Egyptian  religious  tablets.  And  this  symbolism  has  been 
adopted  by  and  incorporated  into  the  Christian  theosophy, 
not,  however,  through  a  tradition  merely  imitative,  but 
because  the  Crucifixion  is  an  essential  element  in  the 
career  of  the  Christ.  For,  as  says  the  Master,  expounding 
the  secret  of  Messiahship,  "  Ought  not  the  Christ  to  sufifer 
these  things,  and  so  to  enter  into  his  glory  ? "  Yes,  for 
this  Cross  of  Christ — the  spiritual  Phoibos — is  made  by 
the  sun's  equinoctial  passage  across  the  lin«  of  the  Eclip- 
tic,— a  passage  which  points  on  the  one  hand  to  the  des- 
cent into  Hades,  and  on  the  other  to  the  ascent  into  the 
kingdom  of  Zeus  the  Father.  It  is  the  Tree  of  Life ; 
the  Mystery  of  the  Dual  Nature,  male  and  female ;  the 
Symbol  of  Humanity  perfected,  and  of  the  Apotheosis  of 
Suffering.  It  is  traced  by  "  Our  Lord  the  Sun "  on  the 
plane  of  the  heavens  ;  it  is  represented  by  the  magnetic 
and  diamagnetic  forces  of  the  earth ;  it  is  seen  in  the  ice- 
crystal  and  in  the  snow-flake ;  the  human  form  itself  is 
modelled  upon  its  pattern  ;  and  all  nature  bears  throughout 
her  manifold  spheres  the  impress  of  this  sign,  at  once  the 
prophecy  and  the  instrument  of  her  redemption. 

21.  Fourfold  in  meaning,  having  four  points,  and  making 
four  angles,  dividing  the  circle  into  four  equal  parts,  the 
cross  pourtrays  the  perfect  union,  balance,  equality,  and 
at-one-ment  on  all  four  planes  and  in  all  four  worlds — phe- 


lo6  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

nomenal,  intellectual,  psychic,  and  celestial — of  the  Man 
and  the  Woman,  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride.  It  is  supremely, 
transcendently,  and  excellently,  the  symbol  of  the  Divine 
Marriage;  that  is,  the  Sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  in  Heaven. 
For  the  Divine  Marriage  is  consummated  only  when  the 
Regenerate  Man  enters  the  Kingdom  of  the  celestial,  which 
is  within.  Then  the  Without  is  as  the  Within,  and  the 
Twain  are  as  One  in  Christ  Jesus. 

22.  Being  thus  the  key  of  all  the  worlds,  from  the  outer 
to  the  inner,  the  Cross  presents,  as  it  were,  four  wards  or 
significations ;  and  according  to  these,  the  mystery  of  the 
Crucifixion  bears  relation  : — 

First,  to  the  natural  and  actual  sense,  and  typifies  the 
Crucifixion  of  the  Man  of  God  by  the  world. 

Secondly,  to  the  intellectual  and  philosophical  sense,  and 
typifies  the  Crucifixion  in  man  of  the  lower  nature. 

Thirdly,  to  the  personal  and  sacrificial  sense,  and  symbol- 
ises the  Passion  and  Oblation  of  the  Redeemer. 

Fourthly,  to  the  celestial  and  creative  sense,  and  repre- 
sents the  Oblation  of  God  for  the  Universe. 

23.  First  in  order,  from  without  inwards,  the  Crucifixion 
of  the  Man  of  God  implies  that  persistent  attitude  of  scorn, 
distrust,  and  menace  with  which  the  Ideal  and  Substantial 
is  always  met  by  the  worldly  and  superficial,  and  to  the 
malignant  expression  of  which  ill-will  the  Idealist  is  always 
exposed.  We  have  noted  that  Isaias,  rebuking  the  ma- 
terialists for  their  impure  and  cruel  rites,  addresses  them  as 
"  rulers  of  Sodom  and  people  of  Gomorrah."  So  likewise, 
the  Seer  of  the  Apocalypse  speaks  of  the  two  divine 
Witnesses  as  slain  "  in  the  streets  of  the  great  city,  which 
is  called  spiritually  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  the  Lord 
was  crucified."  This  city,  then,  is  the  world,  the  material- 
ising, the  idolatrous,  the  blind,  the  sensual,  the  unreal ;  the 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT,  107 

house  of  bondage,  out  of  which  the  sons  of  God  are  called. 
And  the  world  being  all  these,  is  cruel  as  hell,  and  will 
always  crucify  the  Christ  and  the  Christ-Idea.  For  the 
world,  which  walks  in  a  vain  shadow,  can  have  no  part  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  the  man  who  seeks  the  Within 
and  the  Beyond  is  to  it  a  dotard,  a  fool,  an  impostor,  a 
blasphemer,  or  a  madman ;  and  according  to  the  sense  of 
its  verdict,  it  ridicules,  maligns,  despoils,  punishes,  or  se- 
questers him.  And  thus  every  great  and  merciful  deed, 
every  noble  life,  every  grand  and  holy  name,  is  stamped 
with  the  hall-mark  of  the  Cross. 

Scorn  and  contumely  and  the  cries  of  an  angry  crowd 
surround  that  altar  on  which  the  Son  of  God  makes  obla- 
tion of  himself;  and  cross  after  cross  strews  the  long  Via 
Dolorosa  of  the  narrow  path  that  leadeth  unto  Life. 

For  indeed  the  world  is  blind,  and  every  redemption  must 
be  purchased  by  blood. 

24.  Yes,  by  blood  and  tears  and  suffering,  and  these  not 
of  the  body  only  ;  for  the  Son  of  God,  to  attain  that  Son  ship, 
must  have  first  crucified  in  himself  the  old  Adam  of  the 
earth.  This  is  the  second  meaning  of  the  Cross;  it  sets 
forth  that  interior  process  of  pain  which  precedes  regenera- 
tion ;  that  combat  with  and  victory  over  the  tempter,  through 
which  all  the  Christs  alike  have  passed ;  the  throes  of 
travail  which  usher  in  the  New-Born.  And  the  crucified, 
regenerate  Man,  having  made  At-one-ment  throughout  his 
own  fourfold  nature,  and  with  the  Father  through  Christ, 
bears  about  in  himself  the  "  marks  "  of  the  Lord, — the  five 
wounds  of  the  five  senses  overcome,  the  "stigmata"  of 
the  saints.  This  crucifixion  is  the  death  of  the  body  ;  the 
rending  of  the  veil  of  the  flesh ;  the  uniting  of  the  human 
will  with  the  Divine  will ;  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the 
Reconciliation — which  is  but  another  word  for  the  At-one- 


io8  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

ment.  It  is  the  consummation  of  the  prayer,  "  Let  Thy 
Will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven ;"  let  Thy  Will,  O 
Father,  be  accompHshed  throughout  the  terrene  and  astral, 
even  as  it  is  in  the  inmost  adytum,  that  in  all  the  micro- 
cosmic  system  no  Will  be  found  other  than  the  Divine. 

25.  This  also  is  the  secret  of  transmutation, — the  chang- 
ing of  the  water  into  wine,  of  Matter  into  Spirit,  of  man  into 
God.  For  this  blood  of  Christ  and  of  the  Covenant — this 
wine  within  the  holy  Chalice,  of  which  all  must  drink  who 
nevermore  would  thirst — is  the  Divme  Life,  the  vital  im- 
mortal principle,  having  neither  beginning  nor  end,  the 
perfect,  pure,  and  incorruptible  Spirit,  cleansing  and  making 
white  the  vesture  of  the  soul  as  no  earthly  purge  can  whiten  ; 
the  gift  of  God  through  Christ,  and  the  heritage  of  the 
elect.  To  live  the  Divine  Life  is  to  be  partaker  in  the 
blood  of  Christ  and  to  drink  of  Christ's  cup.  It  is  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ  which  "  passeth  understanding,"  the  love 
which  is  Life,  or  God,  and  whose  characteristic  symbol  is 
the  blood-red  ray  of  the  solar  prism.  By  this  mystical 
blood  we  are  saved, — this  blood,  which  is  no  other  than  the 
secret  of  the  Christs,  whereby  man  is  transmuted  from  the 
material  to  the  spiritual  plane,  the  secret  of  inward  purifi- 
cation by  means  of  Love.  For  this  "blood,"  which,  through- 
out the  sacred  writings  is  spoken  of  as  the  essential  principle 
of  the  **  Life,"  is  the  spiritual  Blood  of  the  spiritual  Life, — 
Life  in  its  highest,  intensest,  and  most  excellent  sense, — not 
the  mere  physical  Ufe  understood  by  materialists, — but  the 
very  substantial  Being,  the  inward  Deity  in  man.  And  it 
is  by  means  of  this  Blood  of  Christ  only — that  is  by  means 
of  Divine  Love  only — that  we  can  "  come  to  the  Father,"  and 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  For,  when  it  is  said  that 
"  the  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,"  it  is  signified 
that  sin  is  impossible  to  him  who  is  perfect  in  Love. 


\^ECT.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT,  109 

26.  But  the  Christ  is  not  only  the  type  of  the  sinless  Man, 
the  hierarch  of  the  mysteries ;  he  is  also  the  Redeemer. 
Now,  therefore,  we  come  to  speak  of  the  Vicarious  and  Re- 
demptive office  of  the  Divine  Man,  of  his  Passion,  Sacrifice, 
and  Oblation  for  others. 

There  is  a  true  and  there  is  a  false  rendering  of  this 
Mystery  of  Redemption,  which  is  the  central  mystery  of  the 
Divine  Life,  the  Gold  of  the  target,  the  heart  of  Jesus,  the 
bond  of  all  grace,  the  very  core  and  focus  and  crown  of 
Love. 

This  third  aspect  of  the  Cross  is  in  itself  two-fold,  because 
Wisdom  and  Love,  though  one  in  essence,  are  twain  in  appli- 
cation, since  Love  cannot  give  without  receiving,  nor  receive 
without  giving.  V/e  have  therefore  in  this  double  mystery 
both  the  oblation  and  lifting  up  of  the  Christ  in  Man,  and 
the  Passion  and  Sacrifice  for  others  of  the  Man  in  whom 
Christ  is  manifest.  For  even  as  Christ  is  one  in  us,  so  are 
we  one  with  Christ,  because,  as  Christ  loves  and  gives 
himself  for  us,  we  also  who  are  in  Christ  give  ourselves  for 
others. 

27.  But  the  notion  that  man  requires,  and  can  be  re- 
deemed only  by,  a  personal  Saviour  in  the  flesh,  extraneous 
to  himself,  is  an  idolatrous  travesty  of  the  truth.  For  that 
whereby  a  man  is  "  saved  "  is  his  own  re-birth  and  At-one- 
ment  in  a  sense  transcending  the  phenomenal.  And  this 
process  is  altogether  interior  to  the  man,  and  incapable  of 
being  performed  from  without  or  by  another ;  a  process 
requiring  to  be  enacted  anew  in  each  individual,  and  impos- 
sible of  fulfilment  by  proxy  in  the  person  of  another. 
True,  the  new  spiritual  Man  thus  born  of  Water  and  the 
Spirit,  or  of  the  Pure  Heart  and  the  Divine  Life  ;  the  Man 
making  oblation  on  the  cross,  overcoming  Death  and  ascend- 
ing to  Heaven,  is  named  Christ-Jesus,  the  Only  Begotten, 


no  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  Virgin-born,  coming  forth  from  God  to  seek  and  tc 
save  the  lost ;  but  this  is  no  other  than  the  description  of  ihe 
man  himself  after  transmutation  into  the  Divine  Image.  It 
is  the  picture  of  the  regenerate  man,  made  "  alive  in  Christ," 
and  "like  unto  him."  For  the  Christos  or  Anointed,  the 
Chrestos  or  Best,  are  but  titles  signifying  Man  Perfect ;  and 
the  name  of  Jesus,  at  which  every  knee  must  bow,  is  the 
ancient  and  ever  Divine  Name  of  all  the  Sons  of  God — 
lesous  or  Yesha,  he  who  shall  save,  and  Issa  the  Illumin- 
ated, or  Initiate  of  Isis.  For  this  name  Isis,  originally  Ish- 
Ish,  was  Egyptian  for  Light- Light ;  that  is,  light  doubled, 
the  known  and  the  knowing  made  one,  and  reflecting 
each  other.  It  is  the  expression  of  the  apostolic  utterance, 
^^Face  to  face^  knowing  as  we  are  known,  transfori7ied  into 
the  image  of  His  glory. ^^  Similarly  our  affirmatives  is  and 
yes  ;  for  in  both  Issa  and  lesous  "  all  the  promises  of  God 
are  Yes,"  because  God  is  the  supreme  Affirmative  and  Posi- 
tive of  the  universe,  enlightening  every  soul  with  truth  and 
life  and  power.  God  is  the  Sun  of  the  soul,  whereof  the 
physical  sun  is  the  hieroglyph,  as  the  physical  man  is  of  the 
true  eternal  spiritual  Man. 

28.  The  light  is  positive,  absolute,  the  sign  of  Being  and 
of  the  everlasting  "  Yes  ; "  and  "  the  children  of  the  Light  " 
are  they  who  have  the  gnosis  and  eternal  Life  thereby.  But 
the  negation  of  God  is  "  Nay,"  the  Night,  the  Destroyer 
and  the  devil.  The  name  therefore  of  Antichrist  is  Denial, 
or  Unbelief,  the  spirit  of  Materialism  and  of  Death.  And 
the  children  of  darkness  are  they  who  have  quenched  in 
themselves  the  divine  Love,  and  "  know  not  whither  they 
go,  because  darkness  hath  blinded  their  eyes."  Hence 
the  Serpent  of  the  Dust  is  spoken  of  as  "  the  Father  of 
Lies,"  that  is,  of  negations;  for  the  word  "lie  "means  no- 
thing else  than  "  denial."     "  No  denial  is  of  the  truth,"  says 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT.  itl 

S.  John,  for  this  is  Antichrist,  even  he  that  denieth.  Every 
spirit  which  annulleth  Jesus  (or  the  divine  Yes)  is  not  of 
God.  By  this  we  know  the  spirit  of  Truth,  and  the  spirit 
of  Error." 

29.  Christ  Jesus,  then,  is  no  other  than  the  hidden  and 
true  man  of  the  Spirit,  the  Perfect  Humanity,  the  Express 
Image  of  the  Divine  Glory.  And  it  is  possible  to  man,  by 
the  renunciation — which  mystically  is  the  crucifixion — of 
his  outer  and  lower  self,  to  rise  wholly  into  his  inner  and 
higher  self,  and,  becoming  suffused  or  anointed  of  the  Spirit, 
to  "put  on  Christ,"  propitiate  God,  and  redeem  the  earthly 
and  material. 

30.  And  that  which  they  who,  in  the  outer  manifestation, 
are  emphatically  called  Christs, — whether  of  Palestine,  of 
India,  of  Egypt,  or  of  Persia, — have  done  for  man,  is  but  to 
teach  him  what  man  is  able  to  be  in  himself  by  bearing, 
t2s^for  himself,  that  Cross  of  renunciation  which  they  have 
borne.  And  inasmuch  as  these  have  ministered  to  the 
salvation  of  the  world  thereby,  they  are  truly  said  to  be 
saviours  of  souls,  whose  doctrine  and  love  and  example 
have  redeemed  men  from  death  and  made  them  heirs  of 
eternal  life.  The  Wisdom  they  attained,  they  kept  not 
secret,  but  freely  gave  as  they  had  freely  received.  And 
that  which  thus  they  gave  was  their  own  life,  and  they  gave 
it  knowing  that  the  children  of  darkness  would  turn  on 
them  and  rend  them  because  of  the  gift.  But,  with  the 
Christs,  Wisdom  and  Love  are  one,  and  the  testament  of  Life 
is  written  in  the  blood  of  the  testator.  Herein  is  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Christ  and  the  mere  adept  in  knowledge. 
The  Christ  gives  and  dies  in  giving,  because  Love  constrains 
him  and  no  fear  withholds  ;  the  adept  is  prudent,  and  keeps 
his  treasure  for  himself  alone.  And  as  the  At-one-ment 
accomplished  in  and  by  the  Christs,  is  the  result  of  the  un- 


112  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

reserved  adoption  of  the  Divine  Life,  and  of  the  unreserved 
giving  of  the  Love  mystically  called  the  Blood  of  Christ, 
those  who  adopt  that  Life  according  to  their  teaching,  and 
who  aspire  to  be  one  with  God,  are  truly  said  to  be  saved  by 
the  Precious  Blood  of  the  Lamb  slain  from  he  foundation 
of  the  world.  For  the  Lamb  of  God  is  the  spiritual  Sun  in 
Aries,  the  spring-tide  glory  of  ascending  Light,  the  symbol 
of  the  Pure  Heart  and  the  Righteous  Life,  by  which  hu- 
manity is  redeemed.  And  this  Lamb  is  without  spot,  white 
as  snow,  because  white  is  the  sign  of  Affirmation  and  of  the 
"Yes;"  as  black  is  of  Negation  and  of  the  devil.  It  is 
lesous  Chresios,  the  Perfect  Yes  of  God  who  is  symbolised 
by  this  white  Lamb,  and  who,  like  his  sign  in  heaven,  was 
lifted  up  on  the  Cross  of  Manifestation  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world. 

31.  In  the  holy  Mysteries,  dealing  with  the  process  of  that 
second  and  new  creation,  which — constituting  a  return  from 
Matter  to  Spirit — is  mystically  called  Redemption, — every 
term  employed  refers  to  some  process  or  thing  subsisting 
or  occurring  within  the  individual  himself.  For,  as  man  is 
a  Microcosm,  and  comprises  within  all  that  is  without,  the 
processes  of  Creation  by  Evolution,  and  of  Redemption  by 
Involution,  occur  in  the  Man  as  in  the  Universe,  and  thereby 
in  the  Personal  as  in  the  General,  in  the  One  as  in  the  Many. 
With  the  current  orthodox  symbolism  of  man's  spiritual  his- 
tory, the  Initiate,  or  true  Spiritualist,  has  no  quarrel.  Thai 
from  which  he  seeks  to  be  saved  is  truly  the  Devil,  who 
through  the  sin  of  the  Adam  has  power  over  him  ;  thai 
whereby  he  is  saved  is  the  precious  blood  of  the  Christ,  the 
Only-begotten,  whose  mother  is  the  immaculate  ever-virgin 
Maria.  And  that  to  which,  by  means  of  this  divine  obla- 
tion, he  attains  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  and  eternal  Life. 
But,  with  the  current  orthodox  interpretation  of  these  terms, 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT,  113 

the  Initiate  is  altogether  at  variance.  F  or  he  knows  that 
all  these  processes  and  names  refer  to  Ideas,  which  are 
actual  and  positive,  not  to  physical  transcripts,  which  are 
reflective  and  relative  only.  He  knows  that  it  is  within  his 
own  microcosmic  system  he  must  look  for  the  true  Adam, 
for  the  real  Tempter,  and  for  the  whole  process  of  the  Fail, 
the  Exile,  the  Incarnation,  the  Passion,  the  Crucifixion,  the 
Resurrection,  the  Ascension,  and  the  Coming  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  And  any  mode  of  interpretation  which  implies 
other  than  this,  is  not  celestial  but  terrene,  and  due  to  that 
intrusion  of  earthy  elements  into  things  divine,  that  con- 
version of  the  inner  into  the  outer,  that  "Fixing  of  the  Vola- 
tile "  or  materialisation  of  the  Spiritual,  which  constitutes 
idolatry. 

32.  For,  such  of  us  as  know  and  live  the  inner  life,  are 
saved,  not  by  any  Cross  on  Calvary  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago,  not  by  any  physical  blood-shedding,  not  by  any  vica- 
rious passion  of  tears  and  scourge  and  spear ;  but  by  the 
Christ-Jesus,  the  God  with  us,  the  Immanuel  of  the  heart, 
born,  working  mighty  works,  and  offering  oblation  in  our 
own  lives,  in  our  own  persons,  redeeming  us  from  the  world, 
and  making  us  sons  of  God  and  heirs  of  everlasting 
life. 

33.  But,  if  we  are  thus  saved  by  the  love  of  Christ,  it  is 
by  love  also  that  we  manifest  Christ  to  others.  If  we  have 
received  freely,  we  also  give  freely,  shining  in  the  midst  of 
night,  that  is,  in  the  darkness  of  the  world.  For  so  long 
as  this  darkness  prevails  over  the  earth,  Love  hangs  on  his 
cross ;  because  the  darkness  is  the  working  of  a  will  at 
variance  with  the  Divine  Will,  doing  continual  violence  to 
the  Law  of  Love. 

34.  The  wrongs  of  others  wound  the  Son  of  God,  and  tht 
stripes  of  others  fall  on  his  flesh, 

I 


114  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

He  is  smitten  with  the  pains  of  all  creatures^  and  his 
heart  is  pierced  with  their  wounds. 

There  is  no  offence  done  and  he  suffers  not,  nor  any 
wrong  and  he  is  not  hurt  thereby. 

For  his  heart  is  in  the  breast  of  every  creature^  and  his 
blood  in  the  veins  of  all  flesh. 

For  to  knozu  perfectly  is  to  love  perfectly,  and  so  to  love  is 
to  be  partaker  in  the  pain  of  the  beloved. 

And  inasmuch  as  a  man  loves  and  succours  and  saves 
even  the  least  of  God^s  creatures,  he  ministers  unto  the  Lord. 

Christ  is  the  perfect  Lover,  bearifig  the  sorrows  of  all  the 
poor  and  oppressed. 

And  the  sin  and  injustice  a?id  ignorance  of  the  World  are 
the  nails  in  his  hands,  and  in  his  feet. 

O  Passion  of  Love,  that  givest  thyself  freely,  even  unto 
death  ! 

For  no  man  can  do  Love's  perfect  work  unless  Love  thrust 
him  through  and  through. 

But,  if  he  love  perfectly,  he  shall  be  able  to  redeem  ;  for 
strong  Love  is  a  Net  which  shall  draw  all  souls  tmto  him. 

Because  unto  Love  is  given  all  power,  both  in  heaven  and 
on  earth  ; 

Seeing  that  the  will  of  him  who  loves  perfectly  is  one  with 
the  Will  of  God: 

Afid  unto  God  and  Love,  all  things  are  possible. 

35.  We  come  now  to  the  last  and  innermost  of  the  four- 
fold Mysteries  of  the  Cross ;  the  Oblation  of  God  in  and 
for  the  Macrocosmic  Universe. 

The  fundamental  truth  embodied  in  this  aspect  of  the 
holy  symbol,  is  the  doctrine  of  Pantheism  ;  God,  and  God 
only,  in  and  through  All.  The  celestial  Olympus — Mount 
of  Oracles — is  ever  creating;  God  never  ceases  giving  of 
the  Divine  Self  alike  for  Creation  and  for  Redemption. 


Lect.  IV.]  THE  ATONEMENT,  115 

God  is  in  all  things,  whether  personal  or  impersonal,  and 
in  God  they  live  and  move  and  have  being.  And  that 
stage  of  purification  through  which  the  Kosmos  is  now 
passing,  is  God's  Crucifixion ;  the  process  of  Transmuta- 
tion and  Redemption  of  Spirit  from  Matter,  of  Being  from 
Existence,  of  Substance  from  Phenomenon,  which  is  to  cul- 
minate in  the  final  At-one-ment  of  the  ultimate  Sabbath  of 
Rest  awaiting  God's  redeemed  universe  at  the  end  of  the 
Kalpa.  In  the  Man  Crucified  we  have,  therefore,  the  type 
and  symbol  of  the  continual  Crucifixion  of  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh,  God  suffering  in  the  creature,  the  Invisible  made 
Visible,  the  Volatile  Fixed,  the  Divine  Incarnate,  which 
manifestation,  suffering,  and  crucifixion  are  the  causes  of 
purification  and  therefore  of  Redemption.  Thus,  in  the 
s[)iritiial  sense,  the  six  days  of  creation  are  always  Passion 
Week,  in  that  they  represent  the  process  of  painful  experi- 
ence, travail,  and  passing-through,  whereby  the  Spirit  accom- 
plishes the  redemption  of  the  Body,  or  the  return  of  Matter 
into  Substance.  Hence  in  the  sacred  writings,  God,  in  the 
person  of  Divine  Humanity,  is  represented  as  showing  the 
Five  Mystical  Wounds  of  the  Passion  to  the  Angels,  and 
saying  : — "  These  are  the  Wounds  of  My  Crucifixion,  where- 
with I  am  wounded  in  the  House  of  My  Friends."  For,  so 
long  as  pain  and  sorrow  and  sin  endure,  God  is  wounded 
continually  in  the  persons  of  all  creatures,  small  and  great ; 
and  the  temple  of  their  body  is  the  House  wherein  the 
Divine  Guest  suffers. 

36.  For  the  Bre.td  which  is  broken  and  divided  for  the 
children  of  the  Kingdom  is  the  Divine  Substance,  which 
with  the  Wine  of  the  Spirit,  constitutes  the  holy  Sacrament 
of  the  Eucharist,  tSae  Communion  of  the  Divine  and  the 
Terrene,  the  Oblation  of  Deity  in  Creation. 

37.  May  this  holy  Body  and  Bloody  Substance  and  Spirit^ 


Il6  TEE  PERFECT  WAY. 

Divine  Mother  and  Father^  inseparable  Duality  in  Unity^ 
given  for  all  creatures,  broke?i  and  shed,  and  making  oblation 
for  the  world,  be  everywhere  known,  adored,  and  venerated  I 
May  we^  by  means  of  that  Blood,  which  is  the  Love  of  God 
and  the  Spirit  of  Life,  be  redeemed,  indrawn,  and  trans- 
muted into  that  Body  which  is  Pure  Substance,  i?nmaculate 
and  ever  virgin,  express  Lmage  of  the  Person  of  God  I 
That  we  hunger  no  more^  neither  thirst  any  more ;  and  that 
neither  death,  nor  life^  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor 
powers^  nor  thi?igs  present,  nor,  things  to  come^  nor  height^ 
nor  depth,  nor  any  creature,  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the 
Love  of  Gody  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

That  being  made  one  through  the  At-one-ment  of  Christy 
who  only  hath  Immortality,  and  inhabiteth  Light  inacces- 
sible ; 

We  also,  beholding  the  glory  of  God  with  open  face,  may 
be  transformed  into  the  same  Image,  from  glory  to  glory  by 
the  power  of  the  Spirit y 

*  See  Appendices,  Nos.  V.  and  VI L 


LECTURE  THE  FIFFH. 

TffB  NATURE  AND  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO, 

Part  I. 

1.  Evolution  as  revealed  by  the  facts  of  physical  science 
is  inexplicable  on  the  materiiilistic  hypothesis,  as  also  are 
the  facts  of  occult  experience  and  science.  This  is  because, 
by  its  failure  to  recognise  consciousness  as  subsisting  prior 
to  organism,  and  inherent  in  substance,  that  hypothesis 
ignores  the  condition  essential  to  evolution. 

2.  But  for  evolution  somethi  ig  more  even  than  conscious- 
ness is  requisite, — namely,  memory.  For  memory  is  the 
condition  of  segregation ;  th;;  cause  and  consequence  of 
individuation.  Hence  every  molecule,  both  in  its  indi- 
vidual and  its  collective  cap;-city  is  capable  of  memory; 
for  every  experience  leaves,  in  its  degree,  its  impression 
or  scar  on  the  substance  of  the  molecule,  to  be  transmitted 
to  its  descendants.  This  memory  of  the  most  striking 
effects  of  past  experience,  is  tl  e  differentiating  cause  which, 
accumulated  over  countless  generations,  leads  up  from  the 
a?ftceba  to  man.  Were  there  no  such  memory,  instead  of 
progress,  or  evolution,  there  would  be  a  circle  returning  into 
and  repeating  itself;  whereas,  the  modifying  effects  of 
accumulated  experience  convert  what  would  otherwise  be  a 
circle  into  a  spiral,  whose  eccentricity — though  imper- 
ceptible at  the  outset — becomes  greater  and  more  complex 
at  every  step.^ 

^  See  Unconscious  Memory ^  ch.  xiii.,  by  S.  Butler,  1880. 


Ii8  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

3.  Consciousness  being  inherent  in  substance,  every 
molecule  in  the  universe  is  able  to  feel  and  to  obey 
after  its  kind, — the  inorganic  as  well  as  the  organic,  be- 
tween which  there  is  no  absolute  distinction  as  ordinarily 
supposed.  For  even  the  stone  has  a  moral  platform,  em- 
bracing a  respect  for  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  gravita- 
tion and  chemical  affinity.  Wherever  there  are  vibration 
and  motion,  there  are  life  and  memory ;  and  there  are 
vibration  and  motion  at  all  times  and  in  all  things.  Here- 
in may  be  seen  the  cause  of  the  failure  of  the  attempt  to 
divide  the  ego  from  the  non-ego.  Strictly  speaking,  there 
is  only  one  thing  and  one  action  ;  for  unconsciousness  is 
no  more  a  positive  thing  than  darkness.  It  is  the  priva- 
tion, more  or  less  complete,  of  consciousness,  as  obscurity 
is  of  light. 

4.  We  come  to  speak  of  the  substantial  ego,  the  soul 
or  Psyche,  the  superior  human  reason,  the  nucleus  of  the 
human  system.  ^  In  every  living  entity  there  are  four 
inherent  powers.  We  are  speaking  now  not  of  component 
parts,  but  of  forces.  The  first  and  lowest  mode  of  power 
is  the  mechanical ;  the  second  is  the  chemical ;  the  third 
is  the  electrical,— an  order  which  includes  the  mental ; 
and  the  fourth  is  the  psychical.  The  first  three  belong  to 
the  domain  of  physiological  science;  the  last  to  that  of 
spiritual  science.  It  is  this  last  mode  of  power  which  be- 
longs to  the  "  Immaculate  "  and  Essential.  It  is  inherent 
in  the  Substantial,  and  is,  therefore,  a  permanent  and  inde- 
feasible quantity.  It  is  in  the  Arch'e,  and  is  wherever  there 
is  organic  hfe.  Thus  is  Psyche  at  once  the  "  living  mother  " 
and  "  mother  of  the  living."  And  she  is  from  the  Beginning 
latent  and  diffused  in  all  matter.     She  is  the  unmanifest, 

^  Using  the  term  Psyche  in  the  higher  sense  usually  attached  to  it  by 
the  post-Homeric  Greeks,  and  not  that  of  the  animal  life  as  by  Paul. 


Lect.  W^I nature  and  constitution  of  the  ego.  119 

by  the  divine  Will  made  manifest ;  the  invisible,  by  energy 
made  visible.  Wherefore  every  manifested  entity  is  a 
Trinity,  whose  three  "  persons  "  are, — (i)  that  which  makes 
visible ;  (2)  that  which  is  made  visible ;  and  (3)  that 
which  is  visible.  Such  are  Force,  Substance,  and  the 
expression  or  "  Word  "  of  these,  their  Phenomenon. 

5.  Of  this  Energy,  or  Primordial  Force,  there  are  two 
modes, — for  everything  is  dual, — the  centrifugal,  or  ac- 
celerating force,  and  the  centripetal,  or  moderating  force ; 
of  which  the  latter,  in  being  derivative,  reflex,  and  comple- 
mentary, is  as  feminine  to  the  other's  masculine.  By 
means  of  the  first  mode  substance  becomes  matter.  By 
means  of  the  second  mode  substance  resumes  her  first 
condition.  In  all  matter  there  is  a  tendency  to  revert 
to  substance,  and  hence  to  polarise  Soul  by  means  of 
evolution.  For  the  instant  the  centrifugal  mode  of  force 
comes  into  action,  that  instant  its  derivative,  the  centripetal 
force,  begins  also  to  exercise  its  influence.  And  the 
primordial  substance  has  no  sooner  assumed  the  condition 
of  matter,  than  matter  itself  begins  to  differentiate, — being 
actuated  by  its  inherent  force, — and  by  differentiation  to 
beget  individuahties. 

6.  Then  Psyche,  once  abstract  and  universal,  becomes 
concrete  and  individual,  and  through  the  gate  of  matter 
issues  forth  into  new  life.  A  minute  spark  in  the  globule, 
she  becomes — by  continual  accretion  and  centralisation 
— a  refulgent  blaze  in  the  globe.  As  along  a  chain  of 
nerve-cells  the  current  of  magnetic  energy  flows  to  its 
central  point, — being  conveyed,  as  is  a  mechanical  shock, 
along  a  series  of  units, — with  ever-culminating  impetus, 
so  is  the  psychic  energy  throughout  nature  developed. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  centres,  of  associations,  of  organ- 
isms.    And  thus,  by  the  systematisation  of  congeries  of 


I20  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

living  entities,  that  which  in  each  is  little,  becomes  great 
in  the  whole.  The  quality  of  Psyche  is  ever  the  same; 
her  potentiality  is  invariable. 

7.  Our  souls,  then,  are  the  agglomerate  essences  of 
the  numberless  consciousnesses  composing  us.  They  have 
gfou'Hj  evolving  gradually  from  rudimentary  entities  which 
were  themselves  evolved,  by  polarisation,  from  gaseous 
and  mineral  matter.  And  these  entities  combine  and 
coalesce  to  form  higher — because  more  complex — entities, 
the  soul  of  the  individual  representing  the  combined  forces 
of  their  manifold  consciousnesses,  polarised  and  centra- 
lised into  an  indefeasible  unity. 

8.  While  the  material  and  the  psychical  are  to  each 
other  respectively  the  world  of  Causes  and  the  world  of 
Effects,  the  material  is,  itself,  the  effect  of  the  spiritual, 
being  the  middle  term  between  the  spiritual  and  the 
psychical.  It  is  therefore  true  that  organism  is  the  result 
of  Idea,  and  that  Mind  is  the  cause  of  evolution.  The 
explanation  is,  that  Mind  is  before  matter  in  its  abstract^ 
thougli  not  in  its  coturete  condition.  This  is  to  say,  that 
Mind,  greater  than,  and  yet  identical  with,  that  which 
results  from  organism,  precedes  and  is  the  cause  of  organ- 
ism. 

9.  This  Mind  is  God,  as  subsisting  prior  to  and  apart 
from  creation,  which  is  manifestation.  God  is  spirit  or 
essential  sub^^tance,  and  is  impersonal  if  the  term  persona 
be  taken  in  its  etymological  sense,  but  personal  in  the 
highest  and  truest  sense  if  the  conception  be  of  essential 
consciousness.  For  God  has  no  limitations.  God  is  a 
pure  and  naked  fire  burning  in  infinitude,  whereof  a  flame 
subsists  in  all  creatures.  The  Kosmos  is  a  tree  having 
innumerable  branches,  each  connected  with  and  springing 
out  of  various  boughs,  and  these  again  originating  in  and 


Lect.  v.]  NA  TURE  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO,  I2i 

nourished  by  one  stem  and  root.  And  God  is  a  fire  burn- 
ing in  this  tree,  and  yet  consuming  it  not.  God  is  I  am. 
Such  is  the  nature  of  infinite  and  essential  Being.  And 
such  is  God  before  the  worlds.^ 

10.  What,  then,  is  the  purpose  of  evolution,  and  separa- 
tion into  many  forms, — the  meaning,  that  is,  of  Life? 
Life  is  the  elaboration  of  soul  through  the  varied  trans- 
formations of  matter. 

Spirit  is  essential  and  perfect  in  itself,  having  neither 
beginning  nor  end.  Soul  is  secondary  and  perfected,  be- 
ing begotten  of  spirit.  Spirit  is  the  first  principle,  and 
is  abstract.  Soul  is  the  derivative,  and  is  therefore  con- 
crete. Spirit  is  thus  the  primary  Adam;  and  Soul  is 
Eve,  the  *'  woman  "  taken  out  of  the  side  of  the  "  man." 

11.  The  essential  principle  of  personality — that  which 
constitutes  personahty  in  its  highest  sense — is  conscious- 
ness, is  spirit;  and  this  is  God.  Wherefore  the  highest 
and  innermost  principle  of  every  monad  is  God.  But  this 
primary  principle — being  naked  essence — could  not  be 
separated  off  into  individuals  unless  contained  and  limited 
by  a  secondary  principle.  This  principle — being  derived 
— is  necessarily  evolved.  Spirit,  therefore,  is  projected 
into  the  condition  of  matter  in  order  that  soul  may  be 
evolved  thereby.  Soul  is  begotten  in  matter  by  means 
of  polarisation ;  and  spirit,  of  which  all  matter  consists, 
returns  to  its  essential  nature  in  soul— this  being  the 
medium  in  which  spirit  is  individuated — and  from  ab- 
stract becomes  concrete;  so  that  by  means  of  creation 
God  the  One  becomes  God  the  Many. 

*  Terms  implying  succession,  when  used  in  relation  to  the  infinite 
and  eternal,  are  to  be  understood  logically,  not  chronologically. 


122  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

Part  II. 

12.  We  have  spoken  of  an  outer  personality  and  an 
inner  personality,  and  of  a  material  consciousness  as  differ- 
ing from  a  spiritual  consciousness.  We  have  now  to  speak 
of  a  spiritual  energy  as  differing  from  a  material  energy. 
The  energy  whereby  the  soul  polarises  and  accretes,  is  not 
dependent  upon  the  undulations  of  the  ether  as  are 
material  energies.  The  astral  ether  is  the  first  state  of 
matter.  And  to  the  first  state  of  matter  corresponds  the 
primordial  force,  the  rotatory,  or  centrifugal  and  centripetal 
in  one.  But  before  and  within  force  is  Will ;  that  is. 
Necessity,  which  is  the  will  of  God.  It  is  inherent  in  sub- 
stance, which  is  the  medium  in  which  it  operates.  Such  as 
the  primordial  will  is  in  relation  to  the  primordial  substance, 
the  individual  will  is  to  the  derived  soul.  And  when  the 
current  of  spiritual  energy,  or  will,  is  strong  enough  in  the 
complex  organism  to  polarise  and  kindle  centrally,  then 
the  individual  Psyche  conceives  Divinity  within  her  and 
becomes  God-conscious.  In  the  rudimentary  stages  of 
matter,  this  current  is  not  strong  enough  or  continuous 
enough  thus  to  polarise. 

13.  When  Psyche  has  once  gathered  force  sufficient  to 
burn  centrally,  her  flame  is  not  quenched  by  the  disintegra- 
tion of  the  physical  elements.  These,  indeed,  fall  asunder 
and  desquamate  many  times  during  life;  yet  the  con- 
sciousness and  memory  remain  the  same.  We  have  not 
in  our  physical  bodies  a  single  particle  which  we  had  some 
few  years  ago,  and  yet  our  ego  is  the  same  and  our  thought 
continuous.  The  Psyche  in  us,  therefore,  has  grown  up  out 
of  many  elements ;  and  their  interior  egos  are  perpetuated 
in  our  interior  ego,  because  their  psychic  force  is  central- 
ised in  our   individuality.     And  when  our   Psyche  is  dis- 


Lect.  V.J  NATURE  AND  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  123 

engaged  from  the  disintegrating  particles  of  our  sjstems, 
she  will— after  due  purgation — go  forth  to  new  affinities 
and  the  reversion  of  matter  to  substance  will  still  continue. 

14.  Is  it  asked, — If  the  soul  be  immaculate,  how  comes 
she  to  be  attracted  by  material  affinities  ?  The  reply  is, 
that  the  link  between  her  and  earth  is  that  which  the 
Hindus  call  Karma^  namely,  the  results  of  past  conduct, 
and  consequent  destiny.  Immaculate  though  she  be  in 
her  virginal  essence.  Psyche  is  not  the  "espoused  Bride" 
until  the  bond  between  her  and  the  earth  be  severed. 
And  this  can  be  only  when  every  molecule  of  her  essence 
is  pervaded  by  spirit,  and  indissolubly  married  therewith, 
as  God  with  Arche  in  the  Principle. 

The  soul,  like  water,  can  never  really  be  other  than 
"immaculate,"  and  hence  the  peculiar  propriety  of  water 
as  the  mystical  symbol  for  the  soul.  Being  a  chemical 
combination  of  two  gases — hydrogen  and  oxygen — them- 
selves pure,  water  itself  also  is  pure,  and  cannot  be  other- 
wise. The  condition  called  foulness  occurs,  not  by  the 
admission  of  foreign  substances  entering  into  combination 
with  it,  but  only  by  mechanical  admixture  with  these,  and 
the  holding  of  them  in  suspension  in  such  wise  that  they 
may  be  eliminated  by  distillation.  Such  is  the  relation 
of  the  soul  to  "sin."  When  regeneration — the  equivalent 
of  distillation — is  accompUshed,  "  Karma "  is  no  longer 
operative. 

Part  III. 

15.  The  law  inherent  in  the  primordial  substance  of 
matter  obliges  all  things  to  evolve  after  the  same  mode. 
The  worlds  in  the  infinite  abyss  of  the  heavens  are  in  all 
respects  similar  to  the  cells  in  vegetable  or  animal  tissue. 
Their   evolution  is  similar,  their  distribution  similar,  and 


124  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

their  mutual  relations  are  similar.  For  this  reason  we  may, 
by  the  study  of  natural  science,  learn  the  truth  not  only  in 
regard  to  this,  but  in  regard  also  to  occult  science ;  for  the 
facts  of  the  first  are  as  a  mirror  to  the  facts  of  the  last 

1 6.  We  have  already  said  that  our  souls  are  the  agglom- 
erate essences  of  the  numberless  consciousnesses  compos- 
ing us.  Our  souls  are  not,  however,  limited  in  capacity  to 
the  sum  total  of  those  consciousnesses  as  they  are  in  their 
separate  state ;  but  represent  them  combined  into  One  Life 
and  polarised  to  a  plane  indefinitely  higher.  For  the 
synthetical  resultant  thus  attained  is  not  a  mere  aggregate 
of  constituents ;  but  represents  a  new  condition  of  these, 
precisely  as  in  chemistry  HgO — the  symbol  for  water — 
represents  a  new  condition  of  2H  +  O,  and  differs  from  it 
by  a  reformulation  of  state.  After  such  a  reformulation, 
the  sum  of  the  activities  of  the  molecules  of  the  resulting 
product  is  different  from  that  previously  possessed  by  its 
factors.  In  such  sense  is  to  be  understood  the  synthesis 
of  consciousness  by  means  of  which  our  individuality  is 
constituted  ;  and — referring  this  synthetic  energy  to  a  yet 
higher  plane — the  formulation  of  the  God-consciousness 
peculiar  to  our  world.  This  idea  was  familiar  to  the 
ancients.  They  were  wont  to  regard  every  heavenly  orb 
as  a  deity,  having  for  his  material  body  the  visible  planet; 
for  his  astral  nature,  its  vegetable  and  animal  intelligences ; 
and  for  his  Soul,  man's  substantial  part;  his  spirit  being 
the  Nous  of  man,  and  therefore  Divine.  And  as,  when 
speaking  of  the  planet-God  they  specially  meant  that  Nous, 
it  was  said  with  truth  that  our  Divine  part  is  no  other  than 
the  planet-God, — in  our  case  Dionysos,  or  Jehovah-Nissi, 
the  "  God  of  the  emerald "  or  green  earth,  called  also 
lacchos,  the  mystic  Bacchos.^ 

*  See  Appendices  No.  XII.     The   Earth's   place  in   the    "Seven 


Lect.  v.] nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  125 

17.  Such  as  all  creatures  composing  the  planet  are  to 
the  planet,  all  the  planets  are  to  the  universe,  and  such 
are  the  Gods  to  God  (in  manifestation).  The  supreme  Ego 
of  the  universe  is  the  sum  total  of  all  the  Gods;  His 
Personality  is  their  agglomerate  personality  ;  to  pray  to 
Him  is  to  address  all  the  celestial  host,  and,  by  inclusion, 
the  souls  of  all  just  men.  But  as  in  man  the  central  unity 
of  consciousness  constituted  of  the  association  of  all  the 
consciousnesses  of  his  system,  is  more  than  the  sum  total  of 
these,  inasmuch  as  it  is  on  a  higher  level ; — so  in  the  planet 
and  the  universe.  The  soul  of  the  planet  is  more  than  the 
associated  essences  of  the  souls  composing  it.  The  con- 
sciousness of  the  system  is  more  than  that  of  the  associated 
world-consciousnesses.  The  consciousness  of  the  mani- 
fest universe  is  more  than  that  of  the  corporate  systems ; 
and  that  of  the  Unmanifest  Deity  is  greater  than  that  of 
them  all.  For  the  Manifest  does  not  exhaust  the  Unmani- 
fest; but  "the  Father  is  greater  than  the  Son."  1 

18.  And  here  it  is  necessary  that  this  distinction  between 
the  manifest  and  unmanifest  God  be  insisted  on  and  defined. 
"  No  man,"  it  is  declared,  "  hath  seen  the  Father  at  any 
time,"  because  the  Father  is  Deity  unmanifest.  And 
again,  "  He  that  hath  seen  the  Son,  hath  seen  the  Father 
also,"  because  the  Son  is  Deity  in  manifestation,  and  is  the 
"  Express  Image "  or  Revelation  of  the  Father,  being 
brought  forth  in  the  "fulness  of  time"  as  the  crown  of 
kosmic  evolution.  This  latter  mode  of  Deity  is  therefore 
synthetical  and  cumulative ;  the  terminal  quantity  of  the 
whole  series  of  the  universal  Life-process  {Lebens-prozess) 
as  exhibited  in  successive    planes  of   generative    activity, 

Planets  "  is  that  of  the  green  ray  in  the  spectrum.     Hence  the  emerald 
**  Tablet  of  Trismegistus "  and  signet  of  the  Popes. 
*  See  Appendices,  No.  X.  I. 


126  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  Omega  of  concretive  developments.  Bat  the  Father  is 
Deity  under  its  abstract  mode,  logically  precedent  to  and 
inclusive  of  the  secondary  and  manifest  mode ;  the  Alpha 
of  all  things  and  processes,  the  supra-kosmic,  primordial 
Being,  impersonal  (in  the  etymological  sense  of  the  term) 
and  unindividuated ;  that  wherein  consciousness  subsists 
in  its  original  mode,  and  whereby  it  is  subsequently  con- 
ditioned and  compelled.  This  unmanifest  Deity  must 
necessarily  represent  some  mode  of  Selfhood ;  but  its 
nature  remains  inscrutable  to  us,  and  can  be  known  only 
through  the  Person  of  the  Son  ; — that  is,  in  manifestation. 

The  difference  between  the  two  modes  of  Deity  finds  apt 
illustration  in  the  physiology  of  embryonic  development. 
The  first  condition  of  the  fecundated  ovum  is  one  of 
generalised  and  informulate  vitality.  An  activity,  at  once 
intelligent  and  unindividuated,  permeates  the  mass  of 
potential  differentiations,  and  directs  their  manifestation. 
Under  the  direction  of  this  inherent  activity,  the  mass 
divides,  segregates,  and  constitutes  itself  into  discrete 
elements ;  and  these  in  their  turn  sub-divide,  and  elaborate 
new  individuations ;  until,  by  means  of  successive  aggre- 
gations of  cellular  entities,  various  strata  and  tissues  are 
formed.  In  this  way,  is  built  up,  little  by  little,  a  new 
glomerate  creature,  the  consciousness  of  which,  though 
manifold  and  diverse,  is  yet  one  and  synthetic.  But  this 
synthetic  individuality  is  not  of  itself.  It  was  begotten  in 
:he  bosom  of  the  inherent  and  primordial  intelligence  per- 
trading  the  essential  matter  out  of  which  it  was  constructed, 
ind  to  which,  as  Father,  it  is  Son. 

19.  The  Gods  are  not  limited  in  number.  Their  num- 
bers denote  orders  only.  Beyond  number  are  the  orbs  in 
infinite  space,  and  each  of  them  is  a  God.  Each  globe  has 
its  quality  corresponding  to  the  conditions  of  the  elements 


Lect.  v.] nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  127 

which  compose  it.  And  every  physical  world  of  causes 
has  its  psychic  world  of  effects.  All  things  are  begotten 
by  fission,  or  section,  in  a  universal  protoplast;  and  the 
power  which  causes  this  generation  is  centrifugal. 

20.  God  unmanifest  and  abstract  is  the  Primordial  Mind, 
and  the  kosmic  universe  is  the  ideation  of  that  Mind. 
Mind  in  itself  is  passive  ;  it  is  organ,  not  function.  Idea  is 
active  ;  it  is  function.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  Mind  becomes 
operative,  it  brings  forth  Ideas,  and  these  constitute  exist- 
ence. Mind  is  abstract ;  Ideas  are  concrete.  To  think  is 
to  create.  Every  thought  is  a  substantial  action.  Where- 
fore Thoth — Thought — is  the  creator  of  the  Kosmos. 
Hence  the  identification  of  Hermes  (Thoth)  with  the 
Logos. 

21.  Nevertheless,  there  is  but  one  God  \  and  in  God  are 
comprehended  all  thrones,  and  dominions,  and  powers,  and 
principalities,  and  archangels  and  angels  in  the  celestial 
world, — called  by  Kabbalists  the  "  Exemplary  World,"  or 
world  of  archetypal  ideas.  And  through  these  are  the 
worlds  begotten  in  time  and  space,  each  with  its  astral 
sphere.  And  every  world  is  a  conscient  individuality. 
Yet  they  all  subsist  in  one  consciousness,  which  is  one  God. 
For  all  things  are  of  spirit,  and  God  is  spirit,  and  spirit  is 
consciousness. 

22.  The  science  of  the  Mysteries  is  the  climax  and  crown 
of  the  physical  sciences,  and  can  be  fully  understood  only 
by  those  who  are  conversant  therewith.  Without  this 
knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend  the  basic  doc- 
trine of  occult  science,  the  doctrine  of  Vehicles.  The 
knowledge  of  heavenly  things  must  be  preceded  by  that  of 
earthly  things.  "  If,  when  I  have  spoken  to  you  of  earthly 
things,  you  understand  not,"  says  the  Hierophant  to  his 
neophytes,  "  how  shall  you  understand  when  I  speak  to  you 


128  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

of  heavenly  things  ?  "  It  is  vain  to  seek  the  inner  chamber 
without  first  passing  through  the  outer.  Theosophy,  or  the 
science  of  the  Divine,  is  the  Royal  Science.  And  there  is 
no  way  to  reach  the  King's  chamber  save  through  the  outer 
rooms  and  galleries  of  the  palace.  Hence  one  of  the 
reasons  why  occult  science  cannot  be  unveiled  to  the 
generality  of  men.  To  the  uninstructed  no  truth  is  demon- 
strable. Nor  can  any  one  who  has  not  learned  to  appre- 
ciate the  elements  of  a  problem,  appreciate  its  solution. 

23.  All  the  component  consciousnesses  of  the  individual 
polarise  to  form  a  unity,  which  is  as  a  sun  to  his  system. 
But  this  polarisation  is  fourfold,  being  distinct  for  each  mode 
of  consciousness.  And  the  central,  innermost,  or  highest 
point  of  radiance — and  it  alone — is  subjective.  They  who 
stop  short  at  the  secondary  consciousness  and  imagine  it  to 
be  the  subjective,  have  failed  to  penetrate  to  the  innermost 
and  highest  point  of  the  consciousness  in  themselves,  and 
in  so  far  are  defective  as  to  their  humanity.  Whereas  they 
who  have  developed  in  themselves  the  consciousness  of 
every  zone  of  the  human  system,  are  truly  human,  and  do, 
of  themselves,  represent  humanity  as  no  majority,  however 
great,  of  undeveloped  and  rudimentary  men  can  do.  Being 
thus,  they  represent  Divinity  also.  Theocracy  consists  in 
government  by  them. 

24.  Let  us  take  for  illustration  the  image  of  an  incan- 
descent globe,  or  ball  of  fire,  fluid  and  igneous  throughout 
its  whole  mass.  Supposing  this  globe  divided  into  several 
successive  zones,  each  containing  its  precedent,  we  find  that 
the  central  interior  zone  only  contains  the  radiant  point,  or 
heart  of  the  fiery  m:iss,  and  that  each  successive  zone  con- 
stitutes a  circumferential  halo,  more  or  less  intense  according 
to  its  nearness  to  the  radiant  point ;  but  secondary  and  de- 
rived only,  and  not  in  itself  a  source  of  luminous  radiation. 


Lect.  y.] nature  and  constitution  of  the  ego.  129 

25.  It  13  thus  with  the  macrocosm,  and  also  with  the 
human  kingdom.  In  the  latter  the  soul  is  the  interior  zone, 
and  that  which  alone  contains  the  radiant  point.  By  this 
one,  indivisible  effulgence  the  successive  zones  are  illumin- 
ated in  unbroken  continuity ;  but  the  source  of  it  is  not  in 
them.  And  this  effulgence  is  consciousness,  and  this  radiant 
point  is  the  spiritual  ego  or  Divine  spark.  God  is  the 
Shining  One,  the  radiant  point  of  the  universe.  God  is  the 
supreme  consciousness,  and  the  Divine  radiance  also  is 
consciousness.  And  man's  interior  ego  is  conscient  only 
because  the  radiant  point  in  it  is  Divine.  And  this  con- 
sciousness emits  consciousness ;  and  transmits  it,  first,  to 
the  Psyche  ;  next,  to  the  anima  bruta  ;  and  last,  to  the 
physical  system.  The  more  concentrated  the  conscious- 
ness, the  brighter  and  more  effulgent  the  central  spark. 

26.  Again  :  if  from  the  midst  of  this  imagined  globe  of 
fire  the  central  incandescent  spark  be  removed,  the  whole 
globe  does  not  immediately  become  dark;  but  the  effulgence 
lingers  in  each  zone  according  to  its  degree  of  proximity 
to  the  centre.  And  it  is  thus  when  dissolution  occurs  in  the 
process  of  death.  The  anima  bruta  and  physical  body  may 
retain  consciousness  for  a  while  after  the  soul  is  withdrawn, 
and  each  part  will  be  capable  of  memory,  thought,  and  re- 
flection according  to  its  kind. 

27.  Apart  from  the  consciousness  which  is  of  the  Psyche, 
inan  is  necessarily  agnostic.  For,  of  the  region  which,  being 
spiritual  and  primary,  interprets  the  sensible  and  secondary, 
he  has  no  perception.  He  may  know  things,  indeed,  but 
not  the  meaning  of  things  ;  appearances,  but  not  realities  ; 
resultant  forms,  but  not  formative  ideas;  still  less  the  source 
of  these.  The  world  and  himself  are  fellow-phantoms ; 
aimless  apparitions  of  an  inscrutable  something,  or,  may-be, 
nothing  ;  a  succession  of  unrelated,  unstable  states. 

K 


I30  THE  PERFECT  V/AY. 

28.  From  this  condition  of  non-entity,  the  spiritual  con- 
sciousness redeems  him,  by  withdrawing  him  inward  from 
materiality  and  negation,  and  disclosing  to  him  a  noumenal 
and,  therefore,  stable  ego,  as  the  cogniser  of  the  unstable 
states  of  his  phenomenal  ego.  The  recognition  of  this 
noumenal  ego  in  himself  involves  the  recognition  of  a  cor- 
responding ego,  of  which  it  is  the  counterpart,  without  him- 
self: — involves,  that  is,  the  perception  of  God.  For  the 
problem  of  the  ego  in  man  is  the  problem  also  of  God  in  the 
universe.  The  revelation  of  one  is  the  revelation  of  both, 
and  the  knowledge  of  either  involves  that  of  the  other. 
Wherefore  for  man  to  know  himself,  is  to  know  God.  Self- 
consciousness  is  God-consciousness.  He  who  possesses 
this  consciousness,  is,  in  such  degree,  a  Mystic. 

^29.  That  whereby  the  mystic  is  differentiated  from  other 
men,  is  degree  and  quality  of  sensitiveness.  All  are  alike 
environed  by  one  and  the  same  manifold  being.  But 
whereas  the  majority  are  sensitive  to  certain  planes  or  modes 
only,  and  these  the  outer  and  lower,  of  the  common  envi- 
ronment, he  is  sensitive  to  them  all,  and  especially  to 
the  inner  and  higher;  having  developed  the  correspond- 
ing mode  in  himself.  For  man  can  recognise  without  him- 
self that  only  which  he  has  within  himself.  The  mystic 
is  sensitive  to  the  God-environment,  because  God  is  Spirit, 
and  he  has  developed  his  spiritual  consciousness.  That 
is,  he  has  and  knows  his  noumenal  ego.  Psyche  and  her 
recollections  and  perceptions  are  his. 

30.  Hence  the  radiant  point  of  the  complex  ego  must  be 
distinguished  from  its  perceptive  point.  The  first  is  always 
fixed  and  immutable.  The  second  is  mutable ;  and  its 
position  and  relations  vary  with  different  individuals.  The 
consciousness  of  the  soul,  or  even — in  very  rudimentary 
beings — of  the   mind,  may  lie   beyond  the  range  of  the 


Lect.  v.]  nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  131 

perceptive  consciousness.  As  this  advances  and  spreads 
inwards,  the  environment  of  the  ego  concerned  expands; 
until,  when,  finally,  the  perceptive  point  and  the  radiant 
point  coincide,  the  ego  attains  regeneration  and  emancipa- 
tion. 

31.  When  the  physiologists  tell  us  that  memory  is  a 
biological  processus,  and  that  consciousness  is  a  state  depen- 
dent upon  the  duration  and  intensity  of  molecular  nervous 
vibration,  a  cojisensus  of  vital  action  in  the  cerebral  cells ;  a 
complexity,  unstable  and  automatic,  making  and  unmaking 
itself  at  each  instant,  as  does  the  material  flame,  and 
similarly  evanescent, — they  do  not  touch  the  Psyche.  For 
what  is  it  that  cognises  these  unstable  states  ?  To  what 
Subject  do  these  successive  and  ephemeral  conditions  mani- 
fest themselves,  and  how  are  they  recognised  ?  Phenomenon 
is  incapable  of  cognising  itself,  and  appears  not  to  itself, 
being  objective  only.  So  that  unless  there  be  an  inner, 
subjective  ego  to  perceive  and  remember  this  succession  of 
phenomenal  states,  the  condition  of  personality  would  be 
impossible ;  whereas,  there  is  of  necessity  such  an  ego ;  for 
apparition  and  production  are  processes  affecting — and 
therefore  implying — a  subject.  Now  this  subject  is,  for 
man,  the  Psyche;  for  the  universe,  God.  In  the  Divine 
mind  subsist  eternally  and  substantially  all  those  things  of 
which  we  behold  the  appearances.  And  as  in  nature  there 
are  infinite  gradations  from  simple  to  complex,  from  coarse 
to  fine,  from  dark  to  light,  so  is  Psyche  reached  by  innumer- 
able degrees ;  and  they  who  have  not  penetrated  to  the 
inner,  stop  short  at  the  secondary  consciousness,  which  is 
ejective  only,  and  imagine  that  the  subjective — which  alone 
explains  all—is  undemonstrable. 

32.  A  prime  mistake  of  the  biologists  consists  in  their 
practice  of  seeking  unity  in  the  simple,  rather  than  in  the 


132  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

complex.  They  thus  reverse  and  invert  the  method  of 
evolution,  and  nullify  its  end.  They  refuse  unity  to  the 
man,  in  order  to  claim  it  for  the  molecule  alone.  Claiming 
unity  and,  thereby,  individuality,  for  the  ultimate  element, 
indivisible  and  indestructible  by  thought, — for  the  simple 
monad  only, — they  divinise  the  lowest  instead  of  the  highest, 
and  so  deprive  evolution  of  its  motive  and  end.  Whereas 
Psyche  is  the  most  complex  of  extracts  ;  and  the  dignity 
and  excellence  of  the  human  soul  consist,  not  in  her  simpli- 
city, but  in  her  complexity.  She  is  the  summit  of  evolution, 
and  all  generation  works  in  order  to  produce  her.  The 
occult  law  which  governs  evolution  brings  together,  in  in- 
creasingly complex  and  manifold  entities,  innumerable 
unities,  in  order  that  they  may,  of  their  substantial  essence, 
polarise  one  complex  essential  extract  : — complex,  because 
evolved  from  and  by  the  concurrence  of  many  simpler 
monads :— essential,  because  in  its  nature  ultimate  and 
indestructible.  The  human  ego  is,  therefore,  the  syjithesis, 
the  Divine  Impersonal  personified ;  and  the  more  sublimed 
is  this  personality,  the  profounder  is  the  consciousness  of 
the  Impersonal.  The  Divine  consciousness  is  not  ejective, 
but  subjective.  The  secondary  personality  and  conscious- 
ness are  to  the  primary  as  the  water  reflecting  the  heavens ; 
the  nether  completing  and  returning  to  the  upper  its  own 
concrete  reflex. 

33.  It  is  necessary  clearly  to  understand  the  difference 
between  the  objective  and  ejective  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  subjective  on  the  other.  The  study  of  the  material  is 
the  study  of  the  two  former;  and  the  study  of  the  sub- 
stantial is  the  study  of  the  latter.  That,  then,  which  the 
biologists  term  the  subjective,  is  not  truly  so,  but  is  only  the 
last  or  interior  phase  of  phenomenon.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  unstable  states  which  constitute  consciousness,  are,  in 


Lect.  V. -[NATURE  AND  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  133 

their  view,  subjective  states.  But  they  are  objective  to  the 
true  subject,  which  is  Psyche,  because  they  are  perceived  by 
this  latter,  and  whatever  is  perceived  is  objective.  There 
are  in  the  microcosm  two  functions,  that  of  the  reveal er, 
and  that  of  the  entity  to  which  revelation  is  made.  The 
unstable  states  of  the  biologist,  which  accompany  certain 
operations  of  organic  force,  are  so  many  modes  whereby 
exterior  things  are  revealed  to  the  interior  subject.  Consti- 
tuting a  middle  term  between  object  and  subject,  these 
states  are  strictly  ejective,  and  are  not,  therefore,  the  sub- 
ject to  which  revelation  is  made.  It  is  hopeless  to  seek  to 
attain  the  subjective  by  the  same  method  of  study  which 
discovers  the  ejective  and  objective.  We  find  the  latter  by 
observation  from  without ;  the  former  by  intuition  from 
within.  The  human  kosmos  is  a  complexity  of  many 
principles,  each  having  its  own  mode  of  operation.  And  it 
is  on  the  rank  and  order  of  the  principle  affected  by  any 
special  operation  that  the  nature  of  the  effect  produced 
depends.  When,  therefore,  for  example,  the  biologist  speaks 
of  unconscious  cerebration,  he  should  ask  himself  to  whom 
or  to  what  such  cerebration  is  unconscious,  knowing  that  in 
all  vital  processes  there  is  infinite  gradation.  Questions 
of  duration  affect  the  mind  ;  questions  of  intensity  affect 
the  Psyche.  All  processes  which  occur  in  the  objective  are 
relative  to  something  \  there  is  but  one  thing  absolute,  and 
that  is  the  subject.  Unconscious  cerebration  is  therefore 
only  relatively  unconscious  in  regard  to  that  mode  of  per- 
ception which  is  conditioned  in  and  by  duration.  But  inas- 
much as  any  such  process  of  cerebntion  is  intense,  it  is 
perceived  by  that  perceptive  centre  which  is  conditioned  by 
intensity ;  and  in  relation  to  that  centre  it  is  not  uncon- 
scious. The  interior  man  being  spiritual,  knows  all  pro- 
cesses; but  many  processes  are  not  apprehended  by  the 


i34  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

man  merely  mental.  We  see  herein  the  distinction  between 
the  human  principles,  and  their  separability  even  on  this 
plane  of  life.  And  if  our  mundane  ego  and  our  celestial 
ego  be  so  distinct  and  separable  even  while  vitally  con- 
nected, that  a  nervous  process  conscious  to  the  latter  is 
unconscious  to  the  former,  much  more  shall  separability  be 
possible  when  the  vital  bond  is  broken.  If  the  polarities  of 
cur  entire  system  were  single  and  identical  in  direction,  we 
should  be  conscious  of  all  processes  and  nothing  would  be 
unknown  to  us  ;  because  the  central  point  of  our  perception 
would  be  the  precise  focus  of  all  convergent  radii.  But  no 
unregenerate  man  is  in  such  case.  In  most  men  the  per- 
ceptive point  lies  in  the  relative  man, — ejective  or  objective, 
— and  by  no  means  in  the  substantial  and  subjective  man. 
Thus  the  convergent  radii  pass  unheeded  of  the  individual 
consciousness,  because,  as  yet,  the  man  knows  not  his  own 
spirit.  Being  thus  incapable  of  absolute  cognition,  such  as 
these  may  be  said  to  be  asleep  while  they  live. 

Part  IV. 

34.  The  higher  the  entity  undergoing  death,  the  easier  is 
the  detachment  of  the  Psyche  from  the  lower  conscious- 
nesses by  which  she  is  enshrined.  The  saint  does  not  tear 
death,  because  his  consciousness  is  gathered  up  into  his 
Psyche,  and  she  into  her  spouse  the  Spirit.  Death,  for 
him,  is  the  result,  not  of  any  pathological  process,  but  of 
the  normal  withdrawal,  first,  of  the  animal  life  into  the 
astral  or  magnetic;  and,  next,  of  this  into  the  psychic,  to 
the  reinforcement  of  the  latter ;  precisely  as  in  the  cell 
about  to  disintegrate,  its  protoplasmic  contents  are  seen  to 
become  better  defined  and  to  increase,  as  their  containing 
capsule  becomes  more  tenuous  and  transparent.  In  this 
wise  have  passed  away  saints  and  holy  men  innumerable  of 


Lect.  v.]  NA  TURE  and  constitution  of  the  ego.  I3S 

all  lands  and  faiths;  and  with  a  dissolution  of  this  kind 
the  relations  of  the  redeemed  Psyche  with  materiality  may 
terminate  altogether.  Such  an  end  is  the  consummation  of 
the  redemption  from  the  power  of  the  body,  and  from  the 
"sting  of  death."  Forasmuch,  however,  as  the  righteous 
has  attained  this  condition  by  what  Paul  calls  "dying  daily" 
during  a  long  period  to  the  lower  elements,  death  for  him 
— whatever  the  guise  in  which  it  may  finally  come — is  no 
sudden  event,  but  the  completion  of  a  process  long  in 
course  of  accomplishment  That  which  to  others  is  a 
violent  shock,  comes  to  him  by  insensible  degrees,  and  as  a 
release  wholly  comfortable.  Hence  the  aspiration  of  the 
prophet,  "  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  just,  and  let  my  last 
end  be  like  his." 

35.  In  dissolution,  the  consciousness  speedily  departs 
from  the  outermost  and  lowest  sphere,  that  of  the  physical 
body.  In  the  shade,  spectre,  or  astral  body  (Hebrew, 
NephesJi) — which  is  the  lowest  mode  of  soul — consciousness 
lingers  a  brief  while  before  being  finally  dissipated.  In  the 
astral  soul,  amf?ia  bruta,  or  ghost  (Hebrew,  RuacJi)  con- 
sciousness persists — it  may  be  for  centuries — according  to 
the  strength  of  the  lower  will  of  the  individual,  manifesting 
the  distinctive  characteristics  of  his  outer  personality.  In 
the  soul  (Hebrew,  Neshamah) — the  immediate  receptacle  of 
the  Divine  Spirit — the  consciousness  is  everlasting  as  the 
soul  herself.  And  while  the  ghost  remains  below  in  the 
astral  sphere,  the  soul,  obeying  the  same  universal  law  of 
gravitation  and  affinity,  detaches  herself  and  mounts  to  the 
higher  atmosphere  suited  to  her; — unless,  indeed,  she  be 
yet  too  gross  to  be  capable  of  such  aspiration.  In  which 
case,  she  remains  "  bound  "  in  her  astral  envelope  as  in  a 
prison.  This  separability  of  principles  is  recognised  in 
Homer  when  Odysseus  is  made  to  say  of  his  interview  with 


136  THE   PERFECT   WAY. 

the  shades  : — "  Then    I    perceived    Herakles,  but  only  in 
phantom  (ctSwXor),  for  he  himself  is  with  the  gods."^ 

36.  The  ghosts  of  the  dead  resemble  mirrors  having 
two  opposed  surfaces.  On  the  one  side  they  reflect  the 
earth-sphere  and  its  pictures  of  the  past.  On  the  other 
they  receive  influxes  from  those  higher  spheres  which  have 
received  their  higher,  because  spiritual,  egos.  The  interval 
between  these  principles  is,  however,  better  described  as  of 
state  or  condition  than  as  of  locality.  For  this  belongs  to 
the  physical  and  mundane,  and  for  the  freed  soul  has  no 
existence.     There  is  no  far  or  near  in  the  Divine. 

37.  The  ghost,  however,  has  hopes  which  are  not  with- 
out justification.  It  does  not  all  die,  if  there  be  in  it  any- 
thing worthy  of  recall.  The  astral  sphere  is  then  its  place 
of  purgation.  For  Saturn,  who  as  Time  is  the  Trier  of  all 
things,  devours  all  the  dross,  so  that  only  that  escapes  which 
in  its  nature  is  celestial  and  destined  to  reign.  The  soul, 
on  attaining  Nirvana,  gathers  up  all  that  it  has  left  in  the 
astral  of  holy  memories  and  worthy  experiences.  To  this 
end  the  ghost  rises  in  the  astral  by  the  gradual  decay  and 
loss  of  its  more  material  affinities,  until  these  have  so  disin- 
tegrated and  perished  that  its  substance  is  thereby  en- 
lightened and  purified.  But  continued  commerce  and  inter- 
course with  earth  add,  as  it  were,  fresh  fuel  to  its  earthly 
affinities,  keeping  these  alive,  and  so  hinder  its  recall  to  its 
spiritual  ego.  And  thus,  therefore,  the  spiritual  ego  itself 
is  detained  from  perfect  absorption  into,  and  union  with, 
the  Divine. 

*  As  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Hayman,  Pindar  similarly  emphasises  the 
distinction  between  the  hero  and  his  immortal  essence.  And  Chaucer 
has  the  line:  '*  Though  thou  here  walke,  thy  spirit  is  in  hclle  "  {Man 
of  La-i&s  Tale).  These  distinctions  are  more  than  poetic  imaginings. 
They  represent  occult  knowledges  as  verified  by  the  experience  of  all 
ages. 


Lect.  Y.] nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  137 

38.  This  dissolution  of  the  ghost  is  gradual  and  natural 
It  is  a  process  of  disintegration  and  elimination  extending 
over  periods  which  are  greater  or  less  according  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  individual.  Those  ghosts  which  have  belonged 
to  evil  persons  possessed  of  strong  wills  and  earthly  tenden- 
cies, persist  longest  and  manifest  most  frequently  and  vividly, 
because  they  do  not  rise,  but — being  destined  to  perish — 
are  not  withdrawn  from  immediate  contact  with  the  earth. 
These  are  all  dross,  having  in  them  no  redeemable  element. 
The  ghost  of  the  righteous,  on  the  other  hand,  complains  if 
his  evolution  be  disturbed.  "  Why  callest  thou  me  ?  "  he 
may  be  regarded  as  saying  :  "  disturb  me  not.  The  me- 
mories of  my  earth-hfe  are  chains  about  my  neck ;  the  desire 
of  the  past  detains  me.  Suffer  me  to  rise  towards  my  rest, 
and  hinder  me  not  with  evocations.  But  let  thy  love  go 
after  me  and  encompass  me  ;  so  shalt  thou  rise  with  me 
through  sphere  after  sphere."  Thus  even  though,  as  often 
happens,  the  ghost  of  a  righteous  person  remains  near  one 
who,  being  also  righteous,  has  loved  him,  it  is  still  after  the 
true  soul  of  the  dead  that  the  love  of  the  living  friend  goes, 
and  not  after  his  lower  personality  represented  in  the  ghost. 
And  it  is  the  strength  and  divinity  of  this  love  which  helps 
the  purgation  of  the  soul,  being  to  it  an  indication  of  the 
way  it  ought  to  go,  "  a  light  shining  upon  the  upward  path  " 
which  leads  from  the  earthly  to  the  celestial  and  everlasting. 
For  the  good  man  upon  earth  can  love  nothing  other  than 
the  Divine.  Wherefore,  that  which  he  loves  in  his  friend  is 
the  Divine, — his  true  and  radiant  self.^ 

Part  V. 

39.  Of  the  four  constituent  spheres  of  the   planet  one 
subsists  in  two  conditions,  present  and  past.     This  is  its 

1  See  Appendices,  Nos.  II.  and  XIII.,  Part  2. 


138  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

magnetic  atmosphere  or  astral  soul,  called  the  Anhna  Mtmdi. 
In  the  latter  condition  it  is  the  Picture-world  wherein  are 
stored  up  all  the  memories  of  the  planet ;  its  past  life,  its 
history,  its  affections  and  recollections  of  physical  things. 
The  adept  may  interrogate  this  phantom-world,  and  it  shall 
speak  for  him.  It  is  the  cast-off  vestment  of  the  planet ; 
yet  it  is  living  and  palpitating,  for  its  very  fabric  is  spun  of 
psychic  substance,  and  its  entire  parenchyma  is  magnetic. 
And  forasmuch  as  the  planet  is  an  entity  ever  being  bom 
and  ever  dying ;  so  this  astral  counterpart  of  itself,  which  is 
the  mirror  of  the  globe,  a  world  encompassing  a  world,  is 
ever  in  process  of  increase. 

40.  What  the  disintegrating  Ruach  is  to  man,  this  astral 
zone  is  to  the  planet.  In  fact,  the  great  magnetic  sphere 
of  the  planet  is  itself  composed  and  woven  out  of  the  mag- 
netic egos  of  its  offspring,  precisely  as  these  in  their  turn 
are  woven  out  of  the  infinitely  lesser  atoms  which  compose 
the  individual  man.  So  that,  by  a  figure,  we  may  represent 
the  whole  astral  atmosphere  of  the  planet  as  a  system  of  so 
many  minute  spheres,  each  reflecting  and  transmitting 
special  rays.  But  as  the  Divine  Spirit  of  the  planet  is  not 
ii  its  magnetic  circle,  but  in  the  celestial ;  so  the  true  soul 
and  spirit  of  the  man  are  not  in  this  astral  sphere,  but  are 
of  the  higher  altitudes. 

41.  Each  world  has  its  astral  soul  which  remains  always 
with  it.  But  the  world's  true  soul  migrates  and  interchanges, 
which  is  the  secret  of  the  creation  of  worlds.  Worlds,  like 
men,  have  their  karma ;  and  new  kosmic  globes  arise  out  of 
the  ruins  of  former  states.  As  the  soul  of  the  individual 
human  unit  transmigrates  and  passes  on,  so  likewise  does 
the  Psyche  of  the  planet.  From  world  to  world,  in  cease- 
less intercourse  and  impetus,  the  living  Neshamah  pursues 
her  variable  way.     And  as  she  passes,  the  tincture  of  her 


Lect.  V.-] nature  and  constitution  of  the  ego.  139 

divinity  changes.  Here,  her  spirit  is  derived  through 
lacchos;  there  through  Aphrodite;  and,  again,  through 
Hermes,  or  another  god.  Here,  again,  she  is  weak ;  and 
there,  strong.  Our  planet — it  must  be  understood — did 
not  begin  this  Avatar  in  strength.  An  evil  karma  over- 
whelmed its  soul; — a  karma  which  had  endured  throughout 
the  \2JsX  pralaya, — or  interval  intervening  between  the  former 
period  of  vivification  of  the  planet  and  its  rebirth  to  new 
activities, — and  which,  from  the  outset  of  the  fresh  manifes- 
tation— commonly  called  creation— dominated  the  recon- 
struction of  things.  This  planetary  karma  was,  by  the 
Scandinavian  theology,  presented  under  the  figure  of  the 
"  golden  dice  of  destiny,"  which,  after  the  "  twilight  of  the 
Gods,"  or  "  night  of  the  Kalpa,"  ^  were  found  again  un- 
changed in  the  growing  grass  of  a  new  risen  earth.  For, 
as  the  kabbalistic  interpreters  of  Genesis  teach,  the  moral 
formations  of  all  created  things  preceded  their  objective 
appearance.  So  that  "  every  plant  of  the  field  before  it 
sprang,  and  every  herb  of  the  ground  before  it  grew,"  had 
its  "generation"  unalterably  determined.  And,  so  long  as 
these  moral  destinies  which  constitute  the  planetary  karma 
remain  operative,  so  long  the  process  of  alternate  passivity 
and  activity  will  continue.  The  revolutions  and  evolutions 
of  matter,  the  interchanges  of  destruction  and  renovation, 
mark  the  rhythmic  swing  of  this  resistless  force,  the  expres- 
sion of  essential  Justice.  But  with  every  cyclic  wave  that 
breaks  shoreward,  the  tide  rises.  "  The  might  of  the  GcxJl 
increases  :  the  might  of  the  powers  of  evil  dwindles."  2 

42.  As  with  man  so  with  the  planet.  For  small  and 
great  there  is  One  Law ;  though  one  star  differs  from  an- 
other in  glory.     And  so  throughout  the  infinite  vistas  ar-O 

i  Hindft  term  for  the  period  of  kosmic  manifestation. 
*  The  Dharmasastra  Sutras. 


140  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

systems  of  the  heavens.  From  star  to  star,  from  sun  to  sun, 
from  galaxy  to  galaxy,  the  kosmic  souls  migrate  and  inter- 
change. But  every  God  keeps  his  tincture  and  maintains 
indefeasibly  his  personality. 

Part  VI. 

43.  To  apply  what  has  been  said  to  the  elucidation  of 
catholic  doctrine  and  practice.  The  object  set  before  the 
saint  is  so  to  live  as  to  render  the  soul  luminous  and  con- 
solidate with  the  spirit,  that  thereby  the  spirit  may  be  per- 
petually one  with  the  soul,  and  thus  eternise  its  individuality. 
For  individuality  appertains  to  the  soul,  inasmuch  as  it 
consists  in  separateness,  which  it  is  the  function  of  soul- 
substance  to  accomplish  in  respect  of  spirit.^  Thus,  though 
eternal  and  immaculate  in  her  substance,  the  soul  acquires 
individuality  by  being  born  in  matter  and  time ;  and  within 
her  is  conceived  the  divine  element  which,  divided  from 
God,  is  yet  God  and  man.  Wherefore  catholic  dogma  and 
tradition,  while  making  Mary  the  "  mother  of  God,"  repre- 
sent her  as  born  of  Anna,  the  year,  or  time.  ^ 

'  WTiile  Christianity  teaches  the  everlasting  persistence  of  the  acquired 
personality  of  the  redeemed,  and  makes  redemption  consist  in  this, 
Buddhism  insists  that  personality  is  an  illusion  belonging  to  the  sphere 
of  existence, — as  distinguished  from  Being, — and  makes  redemption 
consist  in  the  escape  from  it.  But  the  difference  between  the  two  doc- 
trines is  one  of  presentation  only,  and  is  not  a  real  difference.  The 
explana'ion  is,  that  there  are  to  each  individual  two  personalities  or 
selfhoods,  the  one  exterior  and  phenomenal,  which  is  transient,  and  the 
other  interior  and  substantial,  which  is  permanent.  And  while  Budd- 
hism declares  tiTily  the  evanescence  of  the  former,  Christianity  declares 
truly  the  continuance  of  the  latter.  It  is  the  absorption  of  the  indi- 
vidual into  this  inner  and  divine  selfhood,  and  his  consequent  with- 
drawal from  Existence,  that  constitutes  Nirvana,  "  the  peace  that 
passeth  understanding." 

^  The  Hebrew  forms  of  these  names — Miriam  and  Hannah — do  not 
bear  quite  the  same  meanings.  But,  as  is  obvious  from  the  analogies 
used  and  accepted  in  Catholic  teaching,  the  name  of  the  Virgin  has 


Lect.  V.-\  nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  141 

44.  The  two  terms  of  the  history  of  creation,  or  evolu- 
tion, are  formulated  by  the  Church  in  two  dogmas.  These 
are  (i),  the  Immaculate  Conception,  and  (2),  the  Assump- 
tion, of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.^  The  former  concerns 
the  generation  of  the  soul,  presenting  her  as  begotten  in  the 
womb  of  matter,  and  by  means  of  matter  brought  into  the 
world,  and  yet  not  of  matter,  but  from  the  first  moment  of 
her  being,  pure  and  incorrupt.  Otherwise  she  could  not  be 
"  Mother  of  God."  In  her  bosom,  as  Nucleus,  is  conceived 
the  bright  and  holy  Light,  the  Nucleolus,  which — without 
participation  of  matter— germinates  in  her  and  manifests 
itself  as  the  express  image  of  the  Eternal  and  Ineffable  Self- 
hood. To  this  image  she  gives  individuality  ;  and  through 
and  in  her  it  is  focused  and  polarised  into  a  perpetual  and 
self-subsistent  Person,  at  once  human  and  Divine,  Son  of 
God  and  of  man.  Thus  is  the  soul  at  once  Daughter, 
Spouse,  and  Mother  of  God.  By  her  is  crushed  the  head 
of  the  Serpent.  And  from  her  triumphant  springs  the  Man 
Regenerate,  who,  as  the  product  of  a  pure  soul  and  divine 


always  been  related  to  its  Latin  signification,  so  that  it  is  consistent  to 
accept  the  name  of  her  mother  in  accordance  with  this  practice,  especi- 
ally as  the  latter  is  not  mentioned  by  any  of  the  Evangelists,  but  occurs 
only  in  Latin  tradition. 

i  It  is  true  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Assumption  is  not  a  dogma  in  the 
technical  sense  of  the  term,  inasmuch  as  it  has  not  yet  been  formally 
promulgated  as  an  article  of  faith.  But  it  has  always  subsisted  in  the 
Church  as  a  "pious  belief,"  and  in  promulgating  it  we  are  but  antici- 
pating the  Church's  intention  ; — excepting  that  we  present  it  as  a  con- 
clusion of  reason  no  less  than  as  an  article  of  faith.  How  far  our  action 
may  be  agreeable  to  ecclesiastical  authority  we  have  not  thought  neces- 
sary to  inquire.  Neither  deriving  our  information  from  ecclesiastical 
sources,  nor  being  under  ecclesiastical  direction,  we  commit  no  breach 
of  ecclesiastical  propriety.  In  any  case  it  has  the  notable  effect  of 
securing  the  fulfihnent  of  the  prophecy  nn plied  in  the  choice  of  his 
official  title  and  insi;j;nia  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. — the  prophecy  that  his 
pontificate  should  witness  the  promulgation  in  question.  For  further 
explanation  see  Led,  VI.  39. 


142  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

spirit,  is  said  to  be  born  of  water  (Maria)  and   the  Tfoly 
Ghost. 

45.  The  declarations  of  Jesus  to  Nicodemus  are  explicit 
and  conclusive  as  to  the  purely  spiritual  nature  both  of  the 
entity  designated  "  Son  of  Man,"  and  of  the  prrycess  of  his 
generation.  Whether  incarnate  or  not,  the  "  Sod  of  Man  " 
is  of  necessity  always  "in  heaven," — his  c.vn  "kingdom 
within."  Accordingly  the  terms  describing  his  parentage 
are  devoid  of  any  physical  reference.  "Virgin  Maria"  and 
"Holy  Ghost"  are  synonymous,  respectively,  with  "Water" 
and  "the  Spirit";  and  these,  again,  denote  the  two  con- 
stituents of  every  regenerated  selfhood,  its  purified  soul  and 
divine  spirit.  Wherefore  the  saying  of  Jesus, — "  Ye  must 
be  born  again  of  Water  and  of  the  Spirit,"  was  a  declara- 
tion, first,  that  it  is  necessary  to  every  one  to  be  born  in 
the  manner  in  which  he  himself  is  said  to  have  been  born ; 
and,  next,  that  the  gospel  narrative  of  his  birth  is  really 
a  presentation,  dramatic  and  symbolical,  of  the  nature 
of  regeneration. 

46.  As  the  Immaculate  Conception  is  the  foundation  of 
the  Mysteries,  so  the  Assumption  is  their  crown.  For  the 
entire  object  and  end  of  kosmic  evolution  is  precisely  this 
triumph  and  apotheosis  of  the  soul.  In  this  Mystery  is 
beheld  the  consummation  of  the  whole  scheme  of  crea- 
tion,— the  perfectionment,  perpetuation,  and  glorification 
of  the  individual  human  ego.  The  grave — that  is  the  astral 
and  material  consciousness — cannot  retain  the  Mother  of 
God.  She  rises  into  heaven  ;  she  ass'imes  its  Queen  ship, 
and  is— to  cite  the  "Little  Office  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary" — "taken  up  into  the  chamber  where  the  King  of 
kings  sits  on  His  starry  throne";  her  festival,  therefore, 
being  held  at  the  corresponding  season  in  the  astronomical 
year,  when  the  constellation  Virgo  reaches  the  zenith  and 


Lect.  V.-\ nature  and  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EGO.  143 

is  lost  to  view  in  the  solar  rays.  Thus,  from  end  to  end, 
the  mystery  of  the  soul's  evolution — the  argument,  that  is, 
of  the  kosmic  drama  and  the  history  of  Humanity — is  con- 
tained and  enacted  in  the  cultus  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
The  Acts  and  the  Glories  of  the  soul  as  Mary  are  the  one 
and  supreme  theme  of  the  sacred  Mysteries.^ 

47.  Now  this  discourse  on  the  nature  and  constitution  of 
the  Ego,  is  really  a  discourse  on  the  nature  and  constitution 
Df  the  Church  of  Christ.^ 

•  See  Appendices,  No.  XL  *  See  Appendices,  No.  X. 


LECTURE   THE  SIXTH. 
THE  FALL  {No.  I.). 

Part  I. 

I.  In  the  city  of  Mecca,  the  birthplace  of  the  iconoclast 
Mohammed,  is  a  square  edifice  thirty  feet  high,  called  the 
Kaabeh,  or  Cube.  The  Koran  says  that  it  was  the  first 
house  of  worship  built  for  mankind.  It  has  been  known 
from  time  immemorial  as  Beit-Allah,  which  name  is  the 
exact  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew  word  Beth-El,  House  of 
God.  According  to  Moslem  legend  it  was  originally  built 
by  Adam,  after  the  pattern  of  a  similar  structure  in  Paradise, 
and  was  restored  by  Abraham.  It  contains  a  white  stone, 
— now  blackened  by  time  and  by  the  kisses  of  pilgrims, — 
which  stone  was  also,  according  to  tradition,  brought  from 
Paradise.  But,  ages  before  the  birth  of  Mohammed,  the 
Kaabeh  was  an  object  of  veneration  as  a  Pantheon  of  the 
Gods,  and  the  white  stone  was  adored  as  a  symbol  of 
Venus. 

2.  This  cubic  House  is  a  figure  of  the  Human  Kingdom 
framed  on  the  pattern  of  the  Universal  Kingdom  con- 
structed in  the  primal  Age,  or  "Beginning."  And  the 
original  builder  of  the  Kaabeh  is  said  to  have  been  Adam, 
"  Adam  "  in  one  aspect  representing  the  first  Church  of  the 
Elect,  the  first  Community  of  men  "  made  in  the  Image  of 
God."  This  Church,  having  forfeited  "  Paradise  "  and  fallen 
away  from  perfection,  was  restored  by  Abraham,  the  Father 
of   the  Faithful  or  Initiates,  this   great   Ancestor   of  the 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL.  145 

chosen  people  of  God  being  in  one  aspect  the  personified 
Church  of  Brahma  in  India,  whence  the  Mysteries  "went 
down  into  Egypt,"  and  ultimately  into  all  the  world.  The 
name  Beth-El  given  to  the  Human  House,  denotes  that 
man,  when  "cubic"  or  six-fold,  is  the  habitation  of  Deity. 
For  in  their  interior  and  primary  meaning  these  six  stages 
or  "days"  of  the  creative  week  of  the  Microcosm,  corre- 
spond to  the  processes  included  in  the  Lesser  and  Greater 
Mysteries,  and  are,  in  order,  Baptism,  Temptation,  Passion, 
Burial,  Resurrection,  and  Ascension ;  the  "  Marriage  of  the 
Lamb  "  being  the  equivalent  of  the  Sabbath,  or  Within  of 
the  Cube,  the  Seventh,  last  and  supremest  of  all  the  Acts 
of  the  Soul.  The  white  stone,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  has 
been  always  the  object  of  special  veneration,  is  the  well- 
known  symbol  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  the  nucleolus  of  the 
Cell,  the  sun  of  the  system,  the  Head  of  the  Pyramid.  It 
was  regarded  as  sacred  to  Venus,  because  she  is  the  Genius 
of  the  Fourth  Day,  the  Revealer  of  the  Sun  and  heavenly 
system,  and  to  her,  therefore,  was  peculiarly  dedicated  the 
emblem  of  Celestial  Light.  The  Kaabeh  is  by  its  very 
name  identified  with  the  Kabbalistic  Merkaba,  the  "car"  in 
which  the  Lord  God  was  said  to  descend  to  earth, — a 
phrase  indicating  the  work  of  Manifestation,  or  Incarnation 
of  Divine  Being  in  "  Creation."  This  Merkaba,  or  Vehicle 
of  God,  is  described  by  Ezekiel  as  resembling  a  throne  of 
sapphire,  upon  which  is  seated  Adonai;  and  supporting 
and  drawing  it  are  four  living  creatures  or  cherubim,  having 
four  faces,  the  face  of  an  ox,  the  face  of  a  lion,  the  face  of 
a  man,  and  the  face  of  an  eagle.  And  there  are  also  four 
wheels  of  the  chariot,  a  wheel  by  each  cherub,  "  in  appear- 
ance like  chrysolite."  "  And  their  whole  body,  and  their 
necks,  and  their  hands,  and  their  wings,  and  the  circles  are 
full  of  eyes." 

L 


146  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

3.  The  perusal  of  this  descriptive  vision,  which  is  identi- 
cal with  certain  passages  in  the  Apocalypse  of  St.  John, 
was  permitted  only  by  the  ancient  Hebrews  to  men  who 
had  attained  the  age  of  thirty  years.^  This  age  represents 
maturity,  manhood,  and  reason,  as  reckoned  in  mystical 
numbers.  Thus  the  Ark  of  Noe  in  which  the  Elect  are 
preserved,  is  thirty  cubits  in  height ;  the  vision  above  cited 
occurs  in  his  thirtieth  year  to  Ezekiel,  whose  name  signifies 
Strength  of  God ;  and  Jesus,  ai  the  commencement  of  his 
mission  of  salvation,  "begins  to  be  about  thirty  years  of 
age."  Similarly  the  Kaabeh,  or  Cubic  House  of  the 
Microcosm,  is  a  cube  of  thirty  feet. 

4.  This  car,  then, — within  which  Adonai  rides, — typified 
by  the  Stone,  called  sapphire  by  Ezekiel,  and  jasper  by  St. 
John,  is  the  Human  Kingdom ;  and  the  living  creatures 
which  draw  it  are  the  four  elements  of  that  Kingdom, 
Body,  Mind,  Soul,  and  Spirit,  corresponding  respectively 
to  the  elemental  spirits  of  Earth,  Fire,  Water,  and  Air, 
which  constitute  the  Macrocosmic  system.  Of  these  living 
creatures  the  first  in  order,  from  without  inwards,  is  the  Ox, 
symbolising  the  earth  or  body,  ploughed  by  the  sacred 
Kine  of  Demeter,  laborious  and  obedient ;  the  next  is  the 
Lion,  type  of  the  magnetic  or  "  fiery  "  mind,  whose  reason 
is  destructive  and  whose  energy  is  rapacious,  the  seat  of 
daring  and  of  the  masculine  will,  which,  suffered  to  ex- 
patiate uncontrolled,  would  rend  and  profane  the  sacred 
mysteries.  Third  in  order  comes  the  genius  of  the  Soul, 
having  a  human  face,  and  symbolising  the  true  Person  of 
the  Microcosm,  to  whom,  as  to  the  Keeper  of  the  House, 
belongs  the  constructive  reason,  the  restraining  and  con- 
servative force  of  the  system.  Last,  and  "over  all  the 
rest, '  is  the  Eagle,  the  bird  of  the  Sun  or  Adonai,  type  of 

*  Epistles  of  Jerome. 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  147 


light,  strength,  and  freedom,  and  of  the  wind  on  whose 
wings  the  Spirit  rides.  As  it  is  written,  "  Behold,  he  shall 
ccme  up  as  an  eagle  and  fly."  All  these  four  cherubim  are 
united  in  one,  and  make  one  fourfold  creature,  the  wings  of 
one  being  joined  to  the  wings  of  another. 

5.  Over  and  around  the  seat  or  car  of  Adonai,  as  de- 
scribed by  the  seers  of  both  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is  a 
Rainbow,  or  Arch.  This,  the  symbol  of  the  Cup  of  the 
Heavens  encircling  and  enclosing  the  Kosmos,  is  in  the 
Scriptures  termed  Mount  Sion  and  the  Mount  of  the  Lord; 
by  the  Hindiis  it  is  called  Mount  Meru,  and  by  the  Greeks 
Olympus,  the  home  of  the  Gods.  And  with  all  it  is  the 
symbol  of  the  Celestial  Kingdom,  the  Uncreate,  which 
"was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come;"  wherein  dwell  the  Seven 
Spirits  of  Light,  the  Elohim  of  the  Godhead.  From  this 
holy  Mount  proceed  all  the  oracles  and  dispensations  of 
Heaven,  and  nothing  is  done  in  the  macrocosmic  or  micro- 
cosmic  worlds  that  is  not  first  conceived  and  perfect  etern- 
ally in  the  divine  counsel.  "  For  ever,  O  Lord,"  says  the 
psalmist,  "  Thy  Word  is  written  in  Heaven."  And  for  this 
reason  the  Scriptures  declare  that  everything  in  the  Taber- 
nacle of  the  Wilderness  was  '*  made  after  the  pattern  of  it 
in  the  holy  Mount."  For  the  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness 
is,  like  the  Kaabeh,  a  figure  of  the  Human  House  of  God, 
pitched  in  the  wilderness  of  the  material  world,  and  re- 
movable from  one  place  to  another. 

6.  The  Mystery  implied  in  the  vision  of  Ezekiel,  is  in 
Genesis  presented  under  the  hieroglyph  of  the  Four  Rivers 
which,  flowing  from  one  Source,  go  out  to  water  Paradise. 
This  source  is  in  the  holy  place  of  the  Upper  Eden.  It 
is  the  "well  of  the  Water  of  Life,"  or  God,  Who  is  the 
Life  and  Substance  of  all  things.  And  the  four  heads  of 
the  river  have  names  corresponding  to  the  zones  of  the 


148  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

fourfold  unit  of  existence,  as  exemplified  in  the  Cell,  and 
therefore  to  the  faces  of  the  fourfold  cherub. 

Thus,  Phison,  the  first  stream,  is  the  Ancient,  or  the 
Body  and  Matter,  and  represents  the  agricultural  or  mineral 
Earth,  wherein  lies  gold,  prosperity,  and  renown.  The 
second  river  is  Gehon,  signifying  the  Vale  of  Gehenna 
or  Purgation,  the  stream  which  traverses  "  Ethiopia "  or 
^th-opis,  a  compound  word  meaning  literally  the  Fire- 
Serpent,  or  Astral  Fluid.  This  river,  therefore,  is  the 
igneous  body  or  magnetic  belt.  The  third  river,  which  is 
Hiddekel,  signifies  the  Double  Tongue  of  Two  Meanings, 
the  stream  which  rises  from  and  flows  back  to  ancient  or 
anterior  ages,  and  which  guides  to  Assyria,  the  land  or 
place  of  Perfection.  This  river  is  the  Soul,  the  permanent 
element  in  man,  having  neither  beginning  nor  end,  taking 
its  origin  in  God  anterior  to  time,  and  returning  whence  it 
came  mdividuated  and  perfected.  Divine  in  nature  and 
human  in  experience,  the  language  of  the  Soul  is  double, 
holding  converse  alike  with  heaven  and  earth.  The  fourth 
river  is  Euphrates,  that  is,  the  power  of  the  Pharaoh, — or 
Phi-ourah,  Voice  of  Heaven,  the  oracle  and  divine  Will  of 
the  human  system.  And  the  "  paradise  "  watered  by  these 
four  rivers  is  the  equilibrated  human  nature,  the  "  garden 
which  the  Lord  God  has  planted  in  Eden,"  or  the  Kosmos ; 
that  is,  the  Particular  in  the  bosom  of  the  Universal. 

7.  Not  without  deep  meaning  and  design  is  the  Book 
of  Genesis  or  of  Beginnings  made  to  open  with  this  de- 
scription of  the  Four  Rivers  of  Paradise.  For  their  names 
and  attributes  supply  the  four  wards  of  the  Key  wherewith 
to  unlock  all  the  mysteries  of  the  Scriptures  whose  Pro- 
logue and  Argument  Genesis  represents.  These  mysteries 
are,  like  the  Rivers  of  Eden,  distributed  into  four  channels, 
each  belonging  to  a  distinct  region  of  the  fourfold  human 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL.  149 

kingdom,  whose  queen  and  priestess  is  the  Soul.  And  of 
these  mystic  or  secret  Scriptures,  one  of  the  most  precious 
and  profound  is  the  Drama  of  the  Fall,  whose  acts,  de- 
picted in  the  first  chapters  of  the  Bible,  serve,  as  a  series  of 
hieroglyphic  tableaux,  to  delineate  at  once  the  history  of 
Man  and  the  object  of  Religion. 

8.  Maimonides,  the  most  learned  of  the  Rabbis,  speak- 
ing of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  says,  "  We  ought  not  to  take 
literally  that  which  is  written  in  the  story  of  the  Creation, 
nor  entertain  the  same  ideas  of  it  as  are  common  with  the 
vulgar.  If  it  were  otherwise,  our  ancient  sages  would  not 
have  taken  so  much  pains  to  conceal  the  sense,  and  to  keep 
before  the  eyes  of  the  uninstructed  the  veil  of  allegory 
which  conceals  the  truth  it  contains."  In  the  same  spirit 
it  was  observed  by  Jerome,  that  "  the  most  difficult  and 
obscure  of  the  holy  books  contain  as  many  secrets  as  they 
do  words,  concealing  many  things  even  under  each  word." 
"  All  the  Fathers  of  the  second  century,"  says  Mosheim, 
"attributed  a  hidden  and  mysterious  sense  to  the  words 
of  Scripture."  Papias,  Justin  Martyr,  Iren^eus,  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  Gregory  of  Nyssa, 
and  Ambrose,  held  that  the  Mosaic  account  of  Creation 
and  of  the  Fall  was  a  series  of  allegories.  The  opinion  of 
Origen  on  the  same  subject  was  plainly  expressed.  "What 
man,"  he  asks,  "is  so  simple  as  to  believe  that  God  per- 
sonifying a  gardener,  planted  a  garden  in  the  East  ?  that 
the  tree  of  Life  was  a  real  tree  which  could  be  touched,  and 
of  which  the  fruit  had  the  power  of  conferring  immor- 
tality?" 

9.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  enlarge  on  this  point,  or  to 
bring  forward  further  authorities.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
this  interior  method  of  interpreting  sacred  writings  was, 
and  still  is,  the  method  of  all  who  possess  the  Gnosis,  or 


ISO  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

secret  knowledge  of  the  mysteries,  their  mere  letter  being 
abandoned  to  the  vulgar  and  to  the  "  critics,"  as  the  husk 
or  shell,  which  serves  but  to  conceal,  encase,  and  preserve 
the  life-giving  seed,  the  priceless  pearl  of  the  true  "•  Word." 
lo.  Both  the  story  of  the  Fall,  and  all  cognate  Myths 
or  Parables,  are  far  older  and  more  universal  than  the 
ordinary  unlearned  reader  of  the  Bible  supposes.  For 
the  Bible  itself,  in  its  Hebrew  form,  is  a  comparatively 
recent  compilation  and  adaptation  of  mysteries,  the  chief 
scenes  of  which  were  sculptured  on  temple  walls,  and 
written  or  painted  on  papyri,  ages  before  the  time  of 
Moses.  History  tel^s  us,  moreover,  that  the  Book  of 
Genesis  as  it  now  stands,  is  the  work,  not  even  of  Moses, 
but  of  Ezra  or  Esdras,  who  lived  at  the  time  of  the  Cap- 
tivity,— between  five  and  six  hundred  years  before  our  era, 
— and  that  he  recovered  it  and  other  writings  by  the 
process  already  described  as  Intuitional  Memory.  "  My 
heart,"  he  says,  "  uttered  understanding,  and  wisdom  grew 
in  my  breast ;  for  the  Spirit  stretigtlmicd  my  memory"  If 
then  by  such  means  he  recovered  what  Moses  had  pre- 
viously delivered  orally  to  Israel,  it  is  obvious  that  Esdras 
must  have  been  initiated  into  the  ancient  tradition  in  a 
former  state  of  existence ;  since  no  memory  could  have 
enabled  him  to  recover  that  which  he  had  never  known, 
and  which — when  the  Divine  commission  to  rewrite  it  was 
given  him — was  so  wholly  lost  that  "  no  man  knew  any 
of  the  things  that  had  been  done  in  the  world  since  the 
beginning."  As  the  Talmud  says,  "  Ezra  could  not  have 
received  the  word,  if  Moses  had  not  first  declared  it." 

II.  Neither  must  it  be  supposed  that  we  have  the  Books 
of  Moses  as  recovered  and  edited  by  Esdras.  The  system 
of  interpolation  and  alteration  already  referred  to  as  largely 
applied  to  the   Bible,  especially  aftected  the  Pentateuch. 


Lkct.vl]  the  fall,  151 

And  foremost  among  those  who  thus  perverted  it  were 
the  Pharisees,  denounced  in  the  New  Testament,  who 
greatly  modified  the  text,  introducing  their  own  ritual  into 
the  law,  incorporating  with  it  their  commentaries,  and  sup- 
pressing portions  which  condemned  their  doctrine  and 
practice.  According  to  Spinoza,  "there  was  before  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees,  no  canon  of  holy  writ  extant  j 
the  books  we  now  have  were  selected  from  among  many 
others  by  and  on  the  authority  of  the  Pharisees  of  the 
second  Temple,  who  also  instituted  the  formulae  for  the 
prayers  used  in  the  synagogue.^ 

12.  Sacerdotal  or  rabbinical  as  were  these  interpolations 
and  corruptions,  they  aifected  principally  the  books  of  cere- 
monial law  and  historical  narrative,  and  referred  to  public 
customs,  temple  rites,  priestly  privileges,  and  questions  of 
mere  national  interest.  They  hardly  touched  the  great 
parabolic  Myths  which  lie  embedded  in  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures like  so  many  gems  encased  m  clay.  And  gems  these 
are,  which,  from  prehistoric  times,  have  been  the  property 
of  the  initiates  of  all  religions,  and  especially  of  the  Hindii 
and  Egyptian,  from  which  last  indeed  Moses  originally 
drew  them,  as  is  occultly  intimated  when  it  is  said  :  "  And 
the  children  of  Israel  borro.ved  of  the  Egyptians  jewels 
of  silver  and  jewels  of  gold ;  and  they  spoiled  the 
Egyptians." 

13.  With  regard  to  this  particular  Myth  of  the  Fall,  the 
walls  of  ancient  Thebes,  Ele  jhantine,  Edfou,  and  Karnak 
bear  evidence  that  long  before  Moses  taught,  and  certainly 
ages  before  Esdras  wrote,  its  acts  and  symbols  were  em- 
bodied in  the  religious  ceremonials  of  the  people,  of  whom, 
according  to  Manetho,  Moses  was  himself  a  priest.  And 
"  the  whole  history  of  the  fall  of  man  is,"  as  says  Sharpe  in 

^  Tractatus  Theologico-Politicus. 


152  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

a  work  on  Egypt,  "of  Egyptian  origin.  The  temptation 
of  woman  by  the  serpent  and  of  man  by  the  woman,  the 
sacred  tree  of  knowledge,  the  cherubs  guarding  with  flaming 
swords  the  door  of  the  Garden,  the  warfare  declared 
between  the  woman  and  the  serpent,  may  all  be  seen  upon 
the  Egyptian  sculptured  monuments." 

Part  II. 

14.  Let  us  now  examine,  in  the  order  mdicated  by  the 
hieroglyphic  symbol  of  the  Four  Rivers,  the  significations 
of  the  mystic  story  to  which  it  is  prefixed. 

Taking  first  the  meaning  corresponding  to  the  river 
Phison  or  the  Body,  we  have  presented  to  us  the  condition 
of  humanity  in  the  perfect  state,  with  special  reference  to 
the  just  and  harmonious  relations  existing  in  that  state 
between  the  Body  and  the  Soul.  This  perfect  condition 
is  exemplified  by  a  picture  of  the  first  Mystic  Community, 
Lodge,  or  Church  of  men  formed  in  the  image  of  God, 
who,  under  the  name  of  Sons  of  God,  were  distinguished 
from  mere  rudimentary  men  not  made  in  the  Divine  image, 
— the  still  materialistic  part  of  mankind. 

This  perfect  condition  was,  and  still  is,  reached — in  the 
aggregate,  as  in  the  individual — by  a  process  of  evolution, 
or  gradual  unfoldment  and  growth  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest.  They  who  first  attained  to  this  perfect  state  are 
celebrated  by  Ovid  and  others  as  the  men  of  the  *'  Golden 
Age,"  the  primal  Sabbath  of  the  world  under  Saturn. 
This  Age  is  reached,  whether  individually  or  collectively, 
whenever  the  Divine  Spirit  working  within,  has  completed 
the  generation  of  Man,  making  him  spiritually  "  in  the 
image  of  God,  male  and  female."  Such  is  the  "  Son  of 
God  "  having  power,  because  in  him  the  soul  dominates 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  153 

the  body,  and  the  body  has  no  will  of  its  own  apart  from 
that  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 

15.  In  this  aspect  of  the  parable,  then,  "Adam"  repre- 
sents the  bodily  or  sensuous  nature  in  man  ;  and  his  wife 
his  psychic  and  spiritual  nature.  The  epithet  translated 
"  help,"  "  helper,"  or  *'  helpmeet,"  applied  to  the  woman, 
signifies  an  overseeing  guide ;  and  the  name  Isha,  by 
which  at  first  she  is  designated,  denotes  the  generative 
substance,  or  feminine  principle,  of  humanity.  After  the 
fall  she  is  Chavah,  or  Eve,  a  term  denoting  the  circle  of 
life,  and  represented  by  a  serpent.  As  the  soul,  she  has 
two  aspects,  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly,  and  is  indicated, 
therefore,  by  two  kinds  of  serpent,  the  serpent  of  the  dust, 
or  tempter,  and  the  serpent  which  represents  the  Divine 
wisdom,  or  Sophia, — in  which  aspect  she  is  man's  initiator 
into  divine  knowledges.  This  heavenly  serpent,  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  solar  ray, — as  opposed  to  the  serpent  of 
subterraneous  fire, — is  familiar  to  us  under  the  name  of 
"  Seraph,"  the  title  given  to  angels  of  the  highest  order  in 
the  celestial  hierarchy,  and  signifying  "  the  burning," — Sons 
of  the  Sun.  In  Egyptian  symbology  the  Divine  Seraph  or 
Serpent  appears  constantly,  surmounting  a  Cross  and 
wearing  the  crown  of  Maut,  the  Mother^  that  is,  the  Living 
Mother,  who  is  the  original  and  celestial  Reason.  This  is 
the  Serpent  on  the  Cross  by  looking  to  which,  another 
sacred  parable  tells  us,  the  Israelites  were  healed  of  the 
venomous  bites  inflicted  on  them  by  the  Serpent  of  the 
Dust,  the  earthly  and  destructive  reason,  whose  figure  is 
derived,  not  from  the  life-giving  sun-ray,  but  from  the  flame 
of  the  devouring  and  rapacious  fire.  And  thus  it  is  said  in 
the  Gospel,  that  by  the  exhibition  of  this  Divine  Wisdom, 
by  the  restoration  of  the  "  Woman  "  or  "  Mother  of  the 
I.ivinf"  to  her  rightful  throne,  will  the  world  finally  be 


154  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

redeemed  from  the  dominion  of  the  serpent  of  the  Abyss, 
that  is,  of  the  lower  and  materialistic  reason.  "For  as 
Moses  lifted  up  the  Serpent  in  the  Wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up."  For  "Christ"  is 
identical  with  Amun-Ra,  "  our  Lord  the  Sun,"  offspring  of 
the  heavenly  Maut.  And  the  means  of  delivery  for  mankind 
from  the  "  ravenous  lion  "  and  the  "  fiery  serpents  "  of  the 
outer  intellect  or  earthly  "  wilderness  of  Sin  "  will  be  the  ex- 
altation of  the  Dual  humanity  at  once  "  Mother  "  and  "  Son." 

1 6.  In  the  individual  or  microcosmic  system,  the  celestial 
Wisdom  or  Soul  of  the  Universe  finds  expression  as  the 
Soul  of  the  Man.  And  the  condition  of  humanity  '*  un- 
fallen  "  and  sinless,  is  one  of  obedience  on  the  part  of  the 
sense-nature,  or  "  Adam,"  to  the  rule  of  the  Soul,  or  "  Eve." 
But,  by  the  "  Fall "  this  state  of  things  is  directly  reversed, 
and  the  "woman"  or  the  "Living"  becomes  subject  to 
this  sense-nature.  This  is  ^^the  Curse''  And  the  curse 
will  be  removed.  Paradise  regained,  and  the  second  Sab- 
bath of  the  Golden  Age  achieved,  only  when  this  "  woman  " 
is  again  invested  with  her  rightful  supremacy. 

17.  Eve  is  said  to  be  taken  from  the  side  of  the  sleeping 
Adam,  because,  although  the  Soul  subsists  in  all  men,  she 
becomes  revealed  only  in  such  as  have  transcended  the 
consciousness  of  the  Body.  When  the  "  Adam  "  is  asleep, 
passive,  unassertive,  the  Soul,  or  Living  man,  is  made  mani- 
fest. Hers  it  is  to  guide,  to  rule,  to  command;  hers  the 
vocation  of  the  Seer,  the  Pythoness,  the  Interpreter  and 
Guardian  of  the  Mysteries. 

18.  Tokens  of  the  superior  respect  once  accorded  to  the 
Soul,  and  to  Woman  as  the  soul's  representative,  abound  in 
the  historical  remains  of  Egypt,  where,  as  we  learn  from 
numberless  sculptures,  writings,  and  paintings,  the  goddess 
Isis  held  rank  above  her  husband,  the  chief  instructor  in 


Lect.  VI.)  THE  FALL,  155 

the  Mysteries  was  represented  as  a  woman,  priestly  and 
noble  families  traced  their  pedigree  through  the  female 
line,  and  public  acts  and  chronicles  were  dated  by  the  name 
of  the  high  priestess  of  the  year. 

19.  Such  then  in  the  **Edenic"  or  unfallen  state,  are 
the  mutual  relations  of  Adam  and  Eve, — Sense  and  Soul. 
And  the  parable  sets  forth  the  end  of  the  Edenic  Sabbath, 
the  ruin  of  the  Golden  Age,  the  "  Fall "  of  the  Church,  as 
brought  about  by  disobedience  to  the  Divine  Voice,  or 
Central  Spirit  to  which  the  Soul  ought  to  be  always  dutiful. 
Sin  thus  originates  with  the  Soul,  as  the  responsible  part  of 
the  man ;  and  she  whose  office  is  to  be  to  him  overseer  and 
guide,  becomes  his  betrayer.  The  forbidden  fruit  communi- 
cated by  the  Soul  to  Adam,  is  the  vital  flame  or  Conscious- 
ness, described  by  classical  poets  as  the  "  Fire  of  Heaven." 
For,  as  God  is  supreme  and  original  Consciousness,  the 
first  manifestation  of  human  consciousness  has  its  seat  in 
the  Soul.  In  the  pure,  Edenic  state,  or,  as  it  is  called,  the 
state  of  innocence,  therefore,  the  shrine  of  this  heavenly 
Fire  is  in  the  spiritual  part  of  man.  But  Prometheus,  or 
pseudo-thought,— the  spurious  thought  as  opposed  to  the 
true  Hermetic  Reason, — steals  or  "  draws  down  "  this  Fire 
from  its  original  place  and  transfers  it  to  the  outer  man  or 
body.  Thenceforward,  the  consciousness  of  man  ceases  to 
reside  in  the  soul,  and  takes  up  its  abode  in  the  body. 
That  is  to  say,  that  man  in  his  "fallen"  condition  is  con- 
scious only  of  the  selfhood  of  the  body,  and  until  regenerate, 
or  redeemed  from  the  '*  Fall,"  he  does  not  again  become 
conscious  and  vitalised  in  the  soul.  To  find  the  Soul  is  the 
first  step  towards  finding  Christ ;  that  is,  as  the  Catholic 
Church  puts  it,  "  Mary  brings  us  to  Jesus."  The  material- 
istic unregenerate  man  is  totally  unconscious  of  his  soul. 
lie  is  aware  only  of  the  body,  and  his  percipience  of  life  is 


156  THE  PERFECT   JVAi. 

limited  to  the  bodily  sense.  By  the  transference  of  the 
vitalising  Fire  from  the  "heaven"  to  the  "earth"  of  the 
human  system,  the  lower  nature  is  inflamed  and  set  at  war 
with  the  Divine  Spirit  or  "  Zeus  "  within  the  man.  This 
act  is  the  Promethean  Theft,  punished  so  terribly  by  the 
"Father"  at  the  hand  of  Hermes,  the  true  Thought,  or 
Angel  of  Understanding.  For  by  this  act,  man  becomes 
bound  and  fettered  to  the  things  of  sense,  the  victim  of  a 
perverse  will,  which,  as  an  insatiable  bird  of  prey,  continu- 
ally rends  and  devours  him.  Thus  is  formulated  that  con- 
dition which  Paul  so  graphically  laments  : — "  I  find  then  a 
law,  that  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present  with  me. 
For  I  dehght  in  the  law  of  God  after  the  inward  man  ;  but 
I  see  another  law  in  my  members  warring  against  the  law  of 
my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin 
which  is  in  my  members.  O  wretched  man ;  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  this  body  of  death  ?  " 

20.  Although,  then,  sin  originates  in  the  soul,  the  bodily 
nature  is  the  ultimate  offender.  Hence  it  is  to  "  Adam  " 
that  the  interrogation  is  addressed  : — "  Hast  thou  eaten  of 
the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou  shouldest  not 
eat?"  And  the  penalty  pronounced  upon  "Adam"  enu- 
merates the  sorrows  of  the  body  in  its  "  fallen  "  state,  and 
foretells  its  inevitable  return  to  the  "  dust "  and  "  earth  "  of 
which  it  is; — a  penalty,  be  it  observed,  which  differs  from 
that  incurred  by  *'  Eve."  For  of  her  we  read  that  her  will, 
ceasing  to  polarise  itself  inwards  and  upwards  upon  her 
Divine  Centre,  is  now,  by  the  effect  of  the  "  Fall,"  directed 
outwards  and  downwards  towards  her  earthly  mate.  Like 
"  Lot's  Wife  "  in  another  and  cognate  parable,  "  she  looks 
back,  and  straightway  becomes  a  pillar  of  Salt."  Salt  was, 
in  alchemic  terminology,  a  synonym  for  Matter.  This 
transformation   into   Salt   is    the   converse  of  the   "Great 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  1 57 

Work " ;  it  is  the  Fixation  of  the  Volatile.  The  Great 
Work  is,  in  alchemic  science,  the  Volatilisation  of  the 
Fixed.  By  this  act  of  depolarisation  the  soul  imprisons 
herself  definitively  in  the  body,  and  becomes  its  subject  until 
that  "Redemption"  for  which,  says  Paul,  "all  creation 
groans  and  travails  in  the  pain  of  desire." 

21.  In  this  first  of  the  four  explanations  of  our  parable, 
the  Tree  of  Life  is  the  secret  of  Transmutation  or  of  Eter- 
nal Life,  of  which  it  is  impossible  for  the  rebellious  Adam  to 
taste.  For,  so  long  as  the  elements  of  disorder  remain  in 
the  body,  so  long  as  the  flesh  lusts  against  the  spirit,  so 
long  as  the  Microcosm  admits  two  diverse  wills  and  is 
swayed  by  two  adverse  laws  ; — so  long  is  the  Fruit  of  this 
Tree  unattainable.  If  it  were  possible  for  this  ruined  and 
disobedient  Adam  to  "  eat  and  live  for  ever,"  that  eternal 
life  would  necessarily  be  the  eternal  hell  of  the  Calvinists, 
that  endless  condition  of  torment  and  defiance  of  God,  that 
life  indestructible  in  the  midst  of  destruction,  which  would 
— were  it  possible — constitute  the  division  of  the  universe, 
and  set  up  in  opposition  to  the  Divine  rule,  an  equal  and 
co-eternal  throne  of  devildom. 

22.  As,  in  this  reading  of  the  myth,  Adam  represents  the 
person,  Eve  the  soul,  and  the  Divine  Voice  the  Spirit,  so 
the  serpent  typifies  the  astral  element  or  lower  reason. 
For  this  subtle  element  is  the  intermediary  between  soul 
and  body,  the  "  fiery  serpent "  whose  food  is  the  "  dust," 
that  is,  the  perception  of  the  senses,  which  are  concerned 
with  the  things  of  time  and  matter  only.  This  "  serpent," 
if  not  controlled  and  dominated  by  the  will  of  the  Initiate, 
leads  the  soul  into  bondage  and  perdition,  by  destroying  the 
equilibrium  of  the  system  and  dividing  the  Hearth-Fire. 
But  though,  when  not  thus  dominated,  the  astral  fire  be- 
comes, through  its  function  of  Tempter,  the  Destroyer  and 


158  THE  PERFEC7'  WAY. 


agent  of  Typhon  or  Negation,  it  is  also,  when  under  the 
dominion  of  the  married  spirit  and  soul,  an  element  of 
power  and  a  glass  of  vision. 

23.  The  deposition  from  her  rightful  place  of  the  Living 
Mother,  Isha,  Chavah,  or  Eve,  typified  by  the  celestial  ser- 
pent, is  then  brought  about  by  the  seductions  of  the  earthly 
and  astral  serpent.  Thence  ensues  the  ruin  of  the  Edenic 
order.  The  soul  is  subject  to  the  body,  intuition  to  sense, 
the  inner  to  the  outer,  the  higher  to  the  lower.  Henceforth 
the  monitions  of  the  soul  must  be  suppressed,  her  aspirations 
quenched,  her  conceptions  difficult,  her  fruit  quickened  and 
brought  forth  with  labour  and  sorrow.  Intuition  wars  with 
passion,  and  every  victory  of  the  spiritual  man  is  bought 
with  anguish.  And  between  the  kabbalistic  "  woman  "  and 
the  astral  "  serpent  ^  there  must  be  perpetual  enmity  ;  for 
henceforward  the  astral  is  antagonistic  to  the  psychic,  and 
between  the  intellectual  and  the  intuitional  "  a  great  gulf  is 
fixed."  For  this  astral  serpent  is  the  terrene  Fire,  and  the 
kabbalistic  woman  is  the  Water,  the  Maria,  which  is  des- 
tined to  quench  it.  "  She  shall  crush  his  head,  and  he 
shall  lie  in  wait  for  her  heel." 

Such  is,  on  the  plane  historical,  whether  of  the  individual 
or  of  the  Church,  the  meaning  of  "  Paradise  "  and  its  *'  loss  " 
— the  gradual  attainment  of  a  certain  high  grade,  and  the 
decline  therefrom ; — a  loss,  the  immediate  effects  of  which 
manifest  themselves  in  a  subversion  of  the  divine-natural 
order,  and  in  the  supremacy  of  the  outer  over  the  inner,  the 
lower  over  the  higher. 

24.  To  humanity  in  Paradise,  made  in  the  divine  Image, 
and  unfallen,  were  given  as  meat  the  tree-fruits  and  the 
herb-grains;  then,  as  Ovid  tells  us,  "men  were  contented 
with  the  food  wliich  Nature  freely  bestowed."  For  the 
bodily  appetites  knew  no  law  but  that  of  a  healthy  natural 


Lect.  VL]  THE  FALL.  IS9 

intuition,  and  obeyed  the  impulse  of  the  God  within,  de- 
siring no  other  nourishment  than  that  for  which  alone  the 
body  was  anatomically  and  physiologically  designed.  But, 
so  soon  as  it  acquired  a  perverse,  selfish  will,  a  new  lust 
arose ;  for  a  new  and  subhuman  nature  appeared  in  it,  the 
nature  of  the  beast  of  prey,  whose  image  the  fallen  body 
has  put  on.  That  this  is  literal  truth,  all  the  poets,  all  the 
seers,  all  the  regenerate  testify,  bearing  witness  also  that 
Paradise  can  never  be  regained,  Regeneration  never  com- 
pleted, man  never  fully  redeemed,  until  the  body  is  brought 
under  the  law  of  Eden,  and  has  cleansed  itself  thoroughly 
from  the  stain  of  blood.  None  will  ever  know  the  joys  of 
Paradise  who  cannot  live  like  Paradise-men  ;  none  will 
ever  help  to  restore  the  Golden  Age  to  the  world  who  does 
not  first  restore  it  in  himself.  No  man,  being  a  shedder  of 
blood,  or  an  eater  of  flesh,  ever  touched  the  Central  Secret 
of  things,  or  laid  hold  of  the  Tree  of  Life.  Hence  it  is 
written  of  the  holy  city  :  "  Without  are  dogs."  For  the  foot 
of  the  carnivorous  beast  cannot  tread  the  golden  floors; 
the  lips  polluted  with  blood  may  not  pronounce  the  Divine 
Name.  Never  was  spoken  a  truer  word  than  this ;  and  if 
we  should  speak  no  other,  we  should  say  all  that  man  need 
know.  For  if  he  will  but  live  the  life  of  Eden,  he  shall 
find  all  its  joys  and  its  mysteries  within  his  grasp.  "  He 
who  will  do  the  will  of  God,  shall  know  of  the  doctrine." 
But  until  "  father  and  mother  "  are  forsaken, — that  is,  until 
the  disciple  is  resolved  to  let  no  earthly  affections  or  desires 
withhold  him  from  entering  the  Perfect  Way, — Christ  will 
not  be  found  nor  Paradise  regained.  "  Many  indeed  begin 
the  rites,"  says  Plato,  "  but  few  are  fully  purified."  And  a 
greater  than  Plato  has  warned  us  that  "  the  Way  is  strait 
and  the  Gate  narrow  that  leadeth  unto  Life,  and  few  they 
are  who  find  it." 


l6o  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

Part  III. 

25.  Coming  next  to  the  philosophical  reading  of  our 
Parable,  we  find  that  on  this  plane  the  Man  is  the  Mind 
or  rational  Intellect,  out  of  which  is  evolved  the  Woman, 
the  Affection  or  Heart ;  that  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  repre- 
sents Maya  or  Illusion  ;  the  Serpent,  the  Will  of  the  Body ; 
the  Tree  of  Life,  the  Divine  Gnosis— or  interior  knowledge; 
and  the  sin  which  has  brought  and  which  brings  ruin  on 
mankind,  Idolatry. 

In  this  aspect  of  the  Fall,  we  have  presented  to  us  the 
decline  of  Religion  from  the  celestial  to  the  astral.  The 
affection  of  the  unfallen  mind  is  fixed  on  things  above, 
spiritual  and  real,  and  not  on  things  beneath,  material  and 
phantasmal.  Idolatry  is  the  adoration  of  the  shadow  instead 
of  the  substance,  the  setting  up  of  the  eidolon  in  the  place 
of  the  God.  It  is  thus  no  specific  act,  but  the  general  ten- 
dency towards  Matter  and  Sense,  that  constitutes  the  Fall. 
And  of  this  tendency  the  world  is  full,  for  it  is  the  "  original 
sin  "  of  every  man  born  of  the  generation  of  "  Adam  "  ; 
and  only  that  man  is  free  of  it  who  is  "  born  again  of  the 
Spirit "  and  made  "  one  with  the  Father,"  the  central  and 
divine  Spirit  of  man's  system. 

26.  Into  this  sin  of  Idolatry  the  human  Heart  declines 
by  listening  to  the  monitions  and  beguilements  of  the  lower 
will,  the  will  of  the  sensual  nature.  Withdrawing  her  desire 
from  the  Tree  of  Life, — the  Gnosis, — the  Affection  fixes  on 
the  false  and  deceitful  apples  of  Illusion,  pleasant  and  de- 
sirable "  to  the  eyes  "  or  outer  senses.  "  Your  eyes  shall  be 
opened,"  urges  the  lower  will,  "  and  you  shall  be  as  gods, 
knowing  both  worlds."  The  Affection  yields  to  the  se- 
ductions of  this  promise,  she  entangles  herself  in  Illusion, 
she  communicates  the  poison  to  the  Mind,  and  all  is  lost 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  l6i 

Man  knows  indeed,  but  the  knowledge  he  has  gained  is 
that  of  his  own  shame  and  nakedness.  **  Their  eyes  were 
opened,  and  they  knew— M<j/  they  were  naked.'^  By  this 
act  of  idolatry  man  becomes  instantly  aware  of  the  body,  of 
sense,  of  Matter,  of  appearance ;  he  falls  into  another  and 
a  lower  world,  precipitated  headlong  by  that  fatal  step  out- 
wards from  the  celestial  to  the  astral  and  terrene.  Hence- 
forth the  fruit  of  the  divine  Gnosis,  the  healing  Tree,  is  not 
for  him,  he  has  lost  the  faculty  of  discerning  Substance  and 
Reality,  the  eye  of  the  Spirit  is  closed,  and  that  of  Sense  is 
opened;  he  is  immersed  in  delusion  and  shadow,  and  the 
glamour  of  Maya.  Sudden  divorce  has  taken  place  in 
him  between  the  spirit  and  the  soul.  He  has  lost  the 
"Kingdom,  the  Power  and  the  Glory."  And,  so  long  as 
he  remains  in  the  "  wilderness  "  of  the  illusory  world,  the 
Gnosis  is  guarded  against  him  by  the  Elemental  Si)irits  and 
their  fourfold  sword,  which,  to  the  man  having  lost  both  the 
power  and  the  secret  of  the  Dissolvent,  are  an  impenetrable 
barrier. 

27.  We  now  enter  on  the  Ethical  and  Pyschic  interpre- 
tation of  the  myth,  which  interpretation  is  itself  of  a  dual 
character,  affecting  on  the  one  hand  the  Church,  on  the 
other  the  Individual. 

In  this  third  aspect  of  the  parable  the  Man  represents  the 
human  Reason  ;  the  Woman,  Faith,  or  the  religious  Con- 
science j  the  Serpent,  the  lower  nature  ;  the  Tree  of  Know- 
ledge, the  kingdom  of  this  world ;  and  the  Tree  of  Life  tl^iC 
kingdom  of  God.  The  religious  Conscience  set  over  the 
human  Reason  as  his  guide,  overseer,  and  ruler,  whether  in 
the  general,  as  the  Church,  or  in  the  particular,  as  the 
Individual,  falls  when — listening  to  the  suggestions  of  the 
lower  nature — she  desires,  seeks,  and  at  length  defiles 
herself  with  the  ambitions,  vanities,  and  falsehoods  of  the 

M 


l6a  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

kingdom  of  this  present  world.  Nor  does  she  fall  alone. 
For,  ceasing  to  be  a  trustworthy  guide,  she  becomes  herself 
serpent  and  seducer  to  the  human  Reason,  leading  him  into 
false  paths,  betraying  and  deluding  him  at  every  turn,  until, 
if  she  have  her  way,  she  will  end  by  plunging  him  into  the 
lowest  depths  of  abject  ignorance,  foohshness,  and  weak- 
ness, there  to  be  devoured  by  the  brood  of  Unreason,  and 
annihilated  for  ever.  For  she  is  now  no  longer  the  true 
wife  Faith,  she  is  become  the  wanton,  Superstition  ;  and 
rather  than  heed  or  obey  monitions  such  as  hers,  he  must,  if 
he  would  save  himself,  assert  dominion  over  her  and  keep 
her  in  bondage  and  subjection  to  his  authority.  Better 
far  that  he  should  be  master  in  the  Man,  than  superstition, 
whose  method  is  folly,  whose  end  is  madness  and  death. 

28.  The  Church  at  her  best,  unfallen,  is  the  glass  to  the 
lamp  of  Truth,  guarding  the  sacred  flame  within,  and  trans- 
mitting unimpaired  to  her  children  the  light  received  upon 
its  inner  surface.  Such  is  the  function  of  the  priesthood, 
in  idea  and  intention;  but  not,  now  at  least,  in  fact  and  deed. 
For  through  the  failure  of  the  priesthood  to  resist  the 
materialising  influences  of  the  world  upon  the  side  exposed 
to  the  world,  the  lamp-glass  has  become  so  clouded  that 
the  light  within  is  either  unable  to  pass  through  it  at  all,  or 
passes  only  to  cast  around,  instead  of  genial  rays,  ghastly 
and  misleading  shadows.  Or,  may-be,  the  light  has  expired 
altogether ;  and,  not  the  maintenance  of  the  flame,  but  the 
concealment  of  its  loss,  is  become  the  prime  object  of  solici- 
tude for  its  whilom  guardians. 

29.  The  world's  history  shows  that  hitherto  this  Fall  has 
been  the  common  fate  of  all  Churches.  Nor  is  its  cause 
far  to  seek,  seeing  that  all  human  histories  are  essentially 
one  and  the  same,  whether  the  subject  be  an  individual  or 
an   aggregation  of   individuals.     A   Church  is,  like  every 


L«CT.  VI.]  THE  FALL.  163 

other  personal  organism,  a  compound  organisnu  Between 
the  circumferential  containing  body,  and  the  central  in- 
forming spirit, — having  a  side  turned  to  each,  and  uniting 
\»he  mental  with  the  spiritual, — stands  the  soul,  to  which 
\'he  Church,  Priesthood,  or  Intuition  corresponds,  in  order 
oy  her  mediation  to  reconcile  the  world  to  God  and  main- 
.tiin  the  Man  in  grace.  And  so  long  as,  by  virtue  of  the 
purity  of  such  medium,  the  stream  of  life  and  light  from 
:he  central  spirit  of  Truth  is  enabled  to  find  free  course 
ind  circulation,  perfect  health  continues  in  the  system. 
But  when,  inclining  towards  the  outer  and  lower  elements, 
xhe  Church  abandons  the  inner  and  higher,  and  becomes 
of  the  earth  earthy,  the  flame  within  her  shrine,  choked 
und  quenched,  departs,  leaving  the  sanctuary  tenantless. 
Then,  no  longer  of  the  heavenly,  but  of  the  earthly  king- 
dom, the  fallen  Church  becomes  the  betrayer  and  the 
enemy  of  man.  To  confess  the  truth  —  that  she  has 
suffered  the  sacred  flame  to  expire — would,  in  respect  of 
all  for  which  she  is  now  solicitous, — her  material  sway  and 
interests, — be  fatal.  Hence  the  fact  that  she  is  naked  and 
empty  must  be  studiously  concealed,  and  all  approach  for- 
bidden, that  no  one  not  concerned  to  keep  the  secret  may 
spy  upon  her  darkened  shrine.  Thenceforth  the  Church 
stands  between  God  and  the  people,  not  to  bring  them 
together,  but  to  keep  them  apart.  With  light  and  spirit 
lost  to  view,  and  the  way  to  the  kingdom  of  God  blocked 
by  superstition,  the  rational  man  either  ceases  to  believe 
that  any  such  kingdom  subsists,  and,  falling  in  his  turn,  he 
plunges  into  the  gulf  of  atheism  or  agnosticism ;  or,  with- 
held by  his  traitor  spouse  from  attaining  the  fruition  of  the 
Tree  of  Life,  contents  himself  with  "  stones  for  bread,"  and 
with  "serpents"  of  the  astral  in  place  of  the  true  celestial 
mysteries. 


104  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

30.  Thus  fallen  and  degraded,  the  Church  becomes,  as 
mankind  too  well  knows,  a  Church  "  of  this  world,"  greedy 
of  worldly  dignities,  emoluments,  and  dominion,  intent  on 
foisting  on  the  belief  of  her  votaries,  in  the  name  of  author- 
ity and  orthodoxy,  fables  and  worse  than  fables,  apples  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Dead-sea  fruit ; — a  Church  jealous 
of  *'  the  Letter  which  killeth  ;  "  ignorant  of,  or  bitterly  at 
enmity  with,  "  the  Spirit  which  giveth  life." 

Part  IV. 

31.  We  now  reach  the  last  and  innermost  interpretation 
of  our  fourfold  hieroglyph,  the  spiritual  and  creative  secret 
embodied  in  the  Edenic  allegory.  This  secret  is  some- 
times more  obscurely  alluded  to  as  the  Lapse  of  heavenly 
beings  from  their  first  happy  estate  into  sub-celestial 
spheres,  and  their  final  redemption  by  means  of  penance 
done  through  incarnation  in  the  flesh.  It  need  scarcely  be 
said  that  this  imagined  Lapse  is  also  a  parable  designed  to 
veil  and  preserve  a  truth.  And  in  its  interpretation  is 
found  the  creative  secret,  the  projection  of  Spirit  into 
Matter;  the  Fall  or  Descent  of  Substance  into  Maya  or 
Illusion.  Hence  results  Chavah,  the  Eve  of  Genesis,  and 
circle  of  life  conditioned  as  past,  present,  and  future,  and 
corresponding  to  Jehovah,  the  covenant  name  of  Deity. 
In  this  reading  of  the  parable,  the  Tree  of  Divination 
or  Knowledge  becomes  Motion,  or  the  Kalpa, — the  period 
of  Existence  as  distinguished  from  Being  ;  the  Tree  of 
Life  is  Rest,  or  the  Sabbath,  the  Nirvana;  Adam  is 
Manifestation;  the  Serpent — no  longer  of  the  lower  but 
of  the  higher  sphere— is  the  celestial  Serpent  or  Seraph 
of  heavenly  Counsel.  For  now  the  whole  signification  of 
the  myth  is  changed,  and  the  act  of  Arche,  the  Woman,  is 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL.  165 

the  Divine  act  of  Creation.  Ase,  the  root  of  the  Hebrew 
word  for  Woman,  signifies  the  generating  female  Fire,  the 
Living  Substance  producing  or  causing  production.  Its 
Coptic  form,  Est^  gives  Esta  or  Hestia,  the  goddess  of 
the  Temple-fire,  for  the  continual  preservation  of  which  the 
order  of  Vestal  virgins  was  established.  This  word,  Est, 
is  identical  also  with  the  Latin  and  Greek  equivalents 
of  IS,  whence  are  derived  all  the  modern  European  forms 
of  the  same  affirmative,  as  also  the  names  Esther  and 
Easter. 

32.  Adam  signifies  the  Red,  hence  the  Blood  ;  and  in 
Blood,  Substance  becomes  incarnate  and  takes  form  as 
Nature  or  Isis,  which  name  is,  of  course,  but  another  ren- 
dering of  the  affirmative  EST.  Hence  Nature,  the  incarnate 
Arche,  is  said  to  be  born  from  the  side  of  Adam,  or  Mani- 
festation by  Blood.  "  Blood,"  as  says  "  Eliphas  Levi,"  "is 
the  first  incarnation  of  the  Universal  Fluid ;  it  is  the 
materialised  vital  Light.  It  lives  only  by  perpetually  trans- 
forming itself,  for  it  is  the  universal  Proteus,  the  great 
Arcanum  of  Life." 

33.  Now,  as  has  been  said  in  a  former  discourse,  Motion 
is  the  means  by  which  Spirit  becomes  visible  as  Matter,  for 
Spirit  and  Matter  represent  two  conditions  of  one  thing. 
Therefore  by  the  Tree  of  Divination  of  Good  and  Evil,  in 
this  interpretation,  must  be  understood  that  condition  by 
means  of  which  Spirit,  projected  into  appearance,  becomes 
manifested  under  the  veil  of  Maya. 

34.  Among  the  sacred  symbols  and  insignia  of  the  Gods 
depicted  in  Egyptian  ?culpture,  none  is  repeated  so  often  as 
the  Sphere.  This  Sphere  is  the  emblem  of  Creative  Motion, 
because  the  Manifesting  Force  is  rotatory  ;  being,  in  fact, 
the  "  Wheel  of  the  Spirit  of  Life  "  described  by  Ezekiel  as 
.*'  a  wheel  within  a  wheel,"  inasmuch  as  the  whole  system  of 


i66  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

the  universe,  from  the  planet  to  its  ultimate  particle,  revolves 
in  the  same  manner.  And  for  this  reason,  and  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  knowledge  which  dictated  the  ancient  sym- 
bology  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Eucharistic  Wafer,  figure 
of  the  Word  made  Fleshy  is  circular.  The  sacramental 
sphere,  poised  on  the  head  of  a  Serpent  or  Seraph,  is  a 
common  hieroglyph  in  Egyptian  sacred  tableaux ;  and 
sculptures  bordered  with  processions  of  such  emblematic 
figures  are  frequent  in  the  ancient  temples.  The  Apple,  or 
round  Fruit  of  the  Tree  of  the  Kalpa, — of  which,  by  the 
advice  of  the  "  Serpent "  of  heavenly  counsel,  the  Divine 
Arche  partakes,  and  thereby  brings  about  the  "  Fall "  or 
Manifestation  of  Spirit  in  Matter,— is  no  other  than  the 
Sacramental  Host,  type  of  the  Bread  of  Life  or  Body  of 
God,  figured  in  the  Orb  of  the  Sun,  reflected  in  the  disc  of 
every  star,  planet,  and  molecule,  and  elevated  for  adoration 
on  the  Monstrance  of  the  universe. 

35.  Only  when  the  Naros,  or  cycle  of  the  Six  Days,  shall 
again  reach  their  Seventh  Day,  will  "  the  Lord  of  the 
Seventh  " — whom  the  Latins  adored  with  unveiled  heads 
under  the  name  of  Septimianus — return,  and  the  veil  of 
Illusion  or  Maya  be  taken  away.  The  anticipation  of  the 
Seventh  Day  of  the  renewed  Arcadia,  the  Seven  Days' 
festival  of  liberty  and  peace,  was  held  by  the  Greeks  under 
the  name  of  the  Kronia,  and  by  the  Latins  under  that  of 
the  Saturnalia.  This  redemptive  Sabbath  is  spoken  of  in 
the  gospel  as  the  "  harvest  of  the  end  of  the  world,"  when 
Saturn  or  Sator  (the  Sower)  as  "  Lord  of  the  Harvest," 
"  shall  return  again  with  joy,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." 
And  when  that  Day  comes,  the  Fruit  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  or 
Nirvana,  shall  be  given  for  the  healing  of  the  universe  ;  rest 
from  motion  shall  put  an  end  to  Matter;  and  Substance, 
now  by  the  "  Fall "  brought  under  the  dominion  of  Adam 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  167 

or  Manifestation,    shall    return    to    Her    original    divine 
estate. 

36.  It  remains  only  to  speak  of  the  symbolic  Bow  or  Cup 
encircling  ths  microcosmic  car  of  Adonai,  and  representing, 
as  already  explained,  the  heavenly  Mount,  of  which  the 
phenomenal  heaven  is  the  transcript.  The  planisphere, 
of  the  heavens,  familiar  in  all  ancient  astrological  science, 
is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  line  passing  from  east  to  west, 
and  representing  the  horizon.  The  portion  of  the  plani- 
sphere below  this  horizontal  line  comprises  the  lower  and 
invisible  hemisphere ;  that  which  is  above,  the  upper  and 
visible.  At  the  opening  of  the  year  the  constellation  of  the 
Celestial  Virgin,  Astraea,  Isis,  or  Ceres,  is  in  ascension. 
She  has  beneath  her  feet  in  the  lower  horizon  the  sign 
Python  or  Typhon,  the  Dragon  of  the  Tree  of  the  Hespe- 
rides,  who  rises  after  her,  pursuing  her,  and  aiming  his  fangs 
at  her  heel. 

37.  This  heavenly  Virgin  is  the  regenerate  Eva,  Maria 
the  Immaculate,  the  Mother  of  the  Sun-God.  Her  first 
"  decan  "  is  that  of  the  Sun,  whose  birth  as  Mithras  was 
celebrated  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  December, — the  true 
birth  of  the  year,— at  midnight,  at  which  time  she  appears 
above  the  visible  horizon.  The  figure  of  the  sun  was  conse- 
quently placed  over  this  *'  decan  "  on  the  planispheiic  chart, 
and  rests  therefore  on  the  head  of  the  Virgin,  while  the  first 
"  decan  "  of  Libra,  which  is  that  of  the  Moon,  is  under  her 
feet.  In  her  we  recognise  the  woman  of  the  Apocalypse, 
victorious  over  her  adversary  the  Dragon,  and  restoring  by 
her  manifestation  the  equilibrium — Libra — of  the  universe. 

38  Thus  the  Heavens  eternally  witness  to  the  promise 
of  the  final  redemption  of  the  Earth,  and  of  the  return  of 
the  Golden  Age,  and  the  Restoration  of  Eden.  And  the 
keynote  of  that  desired  harmony  is  to  be  found  in  the  exalt- 


i68  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

ation  on  all  the  universal  fourfold  planes,  physical,  philo- 
sophical, psychic,  and  celestial,  of  the  Woman. 

Once  again,  in  the  end  as  in  the  beginning,  shall  the  Soul 
rehabilitated,  the  Affection  regenerated,  the  Intuition  puri- 
fied, the  Divine  Substance  redeemed  from  Matter,  be 
throned,  crowned,  and  glorified. 

39.  That  the  time  of  the  rising  of  this  Celestial  Virgin 
and  of  the  rehabilitation  of  truth  by  the  Woman-lMessias 
of  the  Interpretation  is  near  at  hand,  they  who  watch  the 
**  limes  "  and  the  **  heavens  "  may  know  by  more  than  one 
token.  To  name  but  one.  The  sign  Leo,  which  upon  the 
v,r;lestial  chart  precedes  the  ascension  of  the  Woman,  going 
before  her  as  her  herald,  is  the  sign  of  the  present  Head 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  When  assuming  that  title,  he 
declared  his  office  to  be  that  of  the  "  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of 
Juda,"  the  domicile  of  the  Sun,  the  tribe  appointed  to  pro- 
duce the  Christ.  To  the  ascension  of  this  constellation, 
preparing,  as  it  were,  the  Way  of  the  Divine  Virgin,  the 
prophecy  of  Israel  in  Genesis  refers  : — 

"  Juda  is  a  strong  lion  ;  my  son,  thou  art  gone  up.  The 
sceptre  shall  not  be  taken  away  from  Juda  till  the  coming 
of  the  Messenger  —  or  Shiloh  —  the  expectation  of  the 
nations." 

And  not  only  does  the  chief  Bishop  of  the  Church  bear 
this  significant  name  of  the  "  Lion,"  but  he  is  also  the 
thirteenth  of  that  name,  and  Thirteen  is  the  number  of  the 
Woman  and  of  the  lunar  cycle,  the  number  of  Isis  and  of 
the  Microcosm.  It  is  the  number  which  indicates  the 
fulness  of  all  things,  and  the  consummation  of  the  "  Divine 
Marriage,"  the  At-one-ment  of  Man  and  God. 

Moreover  the  Arms  of  Leo  XIII.  represent  a  Tree  on  a 
Mount,  between  two  triune  Lilies,  and  in  the  dexter  chief 
point  a  blazing  Star ;  with  the  motto  *'  Lumen  in  Ca:lo" 


Lect.  VL]  the  fall,  169 

Wliat  is  this  tree  but  the  Tree  of  Life  ;  these  Lilies  but  the 
Lilies  of  the  new  Annunciation, — of  the  Ave  which  is  to 
reverse  the  curse  of  Eva  1  What  star  is  this,  if  not  the 
Star  of  the  second  Advent  ?  History  repeats  itself  only 
because  all  history  is  already  written  in  "  heaven." 

40.  For  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  or  of  the  "Wheel  of 
Life,"  as  the  name  signifies,  are  not  arbitrary,  they  are  the 
Words  of  God  traced  on  the  planisphere  by  the  finger 
of  God,  and  first  expressed  in  intelligible  hieroglyphs  by 
men  of  the  "Age  of  Saturn,"  who  knew  the  truth,  and 
held  the  Key  of  the  Mysteries.  The  Wheel  of  the  Zodiac 
thus  constituted  the  earliest  Bible  \  for  on  it  is  traced  the 
universal  history  of  the  whole  Humanity.  It  is  a  mirror  at 
once  of  Past,  Present,  and  Future ;  for  these  three  are  but 
modes  of  the  Eternal  NOW,  which,  philosophically,  is  the 
only  tense.  And  its  twelve  signs  are  the  twelve  Gates 
of  the  heavenly  City  of  religious  science,  the  Kingdom  of 
God  the  Father. 

41.  The  philosophy  of  the  day,  unable,  through  its  igno- 
rance of  the  soul,  to  solve  the  riddle  of  the  Zodiac,  con- 
cludes that  all  sacred  history  is  a  mere  tissue  of  fables, 
framed  in  accordance  with  the  accidental  forms  of  the  con- 
stellations. But,  as  the  Initiate  knows,  these  signs  are 
written  on  the  starry  chart  because  they  represent  eternal 
verities  in  the  experience  of  the  soul.  They  are  the  pro- 
cesses or  acts  of  the  soul,  under  individuation  in  Man. 
And  so  far  from  being  ascribed  to  Man  because  written  in 
the  Zodiac,  they  were  written  in  the  Zodiac  because  re- 
cognised as  occurring  in  humanity.  In  the  Divine  order, 
pictures  precede  written  words  as  the  expressions  of  ideas. 
The  planisphere  of  the  Zodiac  is  thus  a  //V/z^r<f-bible ;  and 
the  images  embodied  in  it  have  controlled  the  expression 
Qf  all  written  Revelation. 


170  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Part  V. 

42.  This  discourse  was  closed  for  the  writer  by  a  vision, 
an  account  of  which  will  form  an  equally  fitting  conclusion 
for  the  reader.     This  vision  was  as  follows  : — 

A  golden  chalice,  like  those  used  in  Catholic  rites, 
but  having  three  linings,  was  given  to  me  by  an  Angel. 
These  linings,  he  told  me,  signified  the  three  degrees  of 
the  heavens, — purity  of  life,  purity  of  heart,  and  purity  of 
doctrine.  Immediately  afterwards,  there  appeared  a  great 
dome-covered  temple,  Moslem  in  style,  and  on  the  thresh- 
old of  it  a  tall  Angel  clad  in  linen,  who  with  an  air  of 
command  was  directing  a  party  of  men  engaged  in  destroy- 
ing and  throwing  into  the  street  numerous  crucifixes,  bibles, 
prayer-books,  altar-utensils,  and  other  sacred  emblems.  As 
I  stood  watching,  somewhat  scandalised  at  the  apparent 
sacrilege,  a  Voice  at  a  great  height  in  the  air  cried  with 
starthng  distinctness,  "All  the  idols  he  shall  utterly  destroy  !" 
Then  the  same  Voice,  seeming  to  ascend  still  higher,  cried 
to  me,  "Come  hither  and  see!"  Immediately  it  appeared 
to  me  that  I  was  lifted  up  by  my  hair  and  carried  above  the 
earth.  And  suddenly  there  arose  in  mid-air  the  apparition 
of  a  man  of  majestic  aspect,  in  an  antique  garb,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  throng  of  prostrate  worshippers.  At  first  the 
appearance  of  this  figure  was  strange  to  me ;  but  while  I 
looked  intently  at  it,  a  change  came  over  the  face  and 
dress,  and  I  tho;-  ht  I  recognised  Buddha,— the  Messiah  of 
India.  But  scarcely  had  I  convinced  myself  of  this,  when 
a  great  Voice,  like  a  thousand  voices  shouting  in  unison, 
cried  to  the  worshippers  :  "  Stand  upright  on  your  feet : — 
Worship  God  only ! "  And  again  the  figure  changed,  as 
though  a  cloud  had  passed  before  it,  and  now  it  seemed  to 
assume  the  shape  of  Jesus.     Again,   I  saw  the  kneeling 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL,  171 

adorers,  and  again  the  mighty  Voice  cried,  "  Arise  !  worship 
God  only  ! "  The  sound  of  this  Voice  was  hke  thunder, 
and  I  noted  that  it  had  seven  echoes.  Seven  times  the 
cry  reverberated,  ascending  with  each  utterance,  as  though 
mounting  from  sphere  to  sphere.  Then  suddenly  I  feu 
through  the  air,  as  though  a  hand  had  been  withdrawn  from 
sustaining  me :  and  again  touching  the  earth,  I  stood  within 
the  temple  I  had  seen  in  the  first  part  of  my  vision.  At 
its  east  end  was  a  great  altar,  from  above  and  behind  which 
came  faintly  a  white  and  beautiful  Light,  the  radiance  of 
which  was  arrested  and  obscured  by  a  dark  curtain  sus- 
pended from  the  dome  before  the  altar.  And  the  body  of 
the  temple,  which,  but  for  the  curtain,  would  have  been 
fully  illumined,  was  plunged  in  gloom,  broken  only  by  the 
fitful  gleams  of  a  few  half-expiring  oil-lamps,  hanging  here 
and  there  from  the  vast  cupola.  At  the  right  of  the  altar 
stood  the  same  tall  Angel  I  had  before  seen  on  the  temple 
threshold,  holding  in  his  hand  a  smoking  censer.  Then, 
observing  that  he  was  looking  earnestly  at  me,  I  said  to 
him :  "  Tell  me,  what  curtain  is  this  before  the  Light,  and 
why  is  the  temple  in  darkness  ?  "  And  he  answered,  "  This 
veil  is  not  One,  but  Three;  and  the  Three  are  Blood, 
Idolatry,  and  the  Curse  of  Eve.  And  to  you  it  is  given  to 
withdraw  them.  Be  faithful  and  courageous  ;  the  time  has 
come."  Now  the  first  curtain  was  red,  and  very  heavy; 
and  with  a  great  effort  I  drew  it  aside,  and  said,  "  I  have 
put  away  the  veil  of  blood  from  before  Thy  Face.  Shine, 
O  Lord  God  ! "  But  a  Voice  from  behind  the  folds  of  the 
two  remaining  coverings  answered  me,  *'  I  cannot  shine, 
because  of  the  idols."  And  lo,  before  me  a  curtain  of  many 
colours,  woven  about  with  all  manner  of  images,  crucifixes, 
madonnas,  Old  and  New  Testaments,  prayer-books,  and 
Other  religious  symbols,  some  strange  and  hideous  like  the 


172  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


idols  of  China  and  Japan,  some  beautiful  like  those  of  the 
Greeks  and  Christians.  And  the  weight  of  the  curtain  was 
like  lead,  for  it  was  thick  widi  gold  and  silver  embroideries. 
But  with  both  hands  I  tore  it  away,  and  cried,  "  I  have  put 
away  the  idols  from  before  Thy  Face.  Shine,  O  Lord 
God  ! "  And  now  the  Light  was  clearer  and  brighter.  But 
yet  before  me  hung  a  third  veil,  all  of  black ;  and  upon  it 
was  traced  in  oudine  the  figure  of  lour  Lihes  on  a  single 
stem  inverted,  their  cups  opening  downwards.  And  from 
behind  this  veil,  the  Voice  answered  me  again,  "  I  cannot 
shine,  because  of  the  curse  of  Eve."  Then  I  put  forth  all 
my  strength,  and  with  a  great  will  rent  away  the  curtain, 
crying,  "I  have  put  away  her  curse  from  before  Thee. 
Shine,  O  Lord  God  ! " 

And  there  was  no  more  a  veil,  but  a  landscape,  more 
glorious  and  perfect  than  words  can  paint,  a  Garden  of 
absolute  beauty,  filled  with  trees  of  palm,  and  olive,  and 
fig,  rivers  of  clear  water  and  lawns  of  tender  green  ;  and 
distant  groves  and  forests  framed  about  by  mountains 
crowned  with  snow ;  and  on  the  brow  of  their  shining 
peaks  a  rising  Sun,  whose  light  it  was  I  had  seen  behind 
the  veils.  And  about  the  Sun,  in  mid-air  hung  white  misty 
s>napes  of  great  Angels,  as  clouds  at  morning  float  above 
the  place  of  dawn.  And  beneath,  under  a  mighty  tree 
of  cedar,  stood  a  white  elephant,  bearing  in  his  golden 
houdah  a  beautiful  woman  robed  as  a  queen,  and  wearing 
a  crown.  But  while  I  looked,  entranced,  and  longing  to 
look  for  ever,  the  garden,  the  altar,  and  the  temple  were 
carried  up  from  me  into  Heaven.  Then  as  I  stood  gazing 
upwards,  came  again  the  Voice,  at  first  high  in  the  air,  but 
falling  eartliwards  as  I  listened.  And  behold,  before  me 
appeared  the  white  pinnacle  of  a  minaret,  and  around  and 
beneath  it  the  sky  was  all  gold  and  red  with  the  glory  of 


Lect.  VI.]  THE  FALL.  173 

the  rising  Sun.  And  I  perceived  that  now  the  voice  was 
that  of  a  solitary  Muezzin  standing  on  the  minaret  with 
uplifted  hands  and  crying  : — 

*'  Put  away  Blood  from  among  you  I 
Destroy  your  Idols  ! 
Restore  your  Queen  1  " 

And  straightway  a  Voice,  hke  that  of  an  infinite  multitude, 
coming  as  though  from  above  and  around  and  beneath  my 
feet, — a  Voice  like  a  wind  rising  upwards  from  caverns 
under  the  hills  to  their  loftiest  far-off  heights  amowr  thrs 
stars, — responded, — 

"Worship  God  alone  I  "> 
•  See  Appendices,  No.  III.,  Part  a. 


LECTURE  THE  SEVENTH. 

THE  FALL  {No.  IL). 
Part  I. 

I  Oc'R  subject  is  again  the  cataclysmal  event  mystically 
called  the  Fall  of  Man.  Before  entering  upon  it,  we  will 
recapitulate  briefly  what  has  been  said  respecting  the  nature 
of  man.  As  already  explained,  this  is  fourfold.  This 
fourfold  nature  is  itself  included  in  a  dual  personality. 
Consisting  of  male  and  female,  Reason  and  Intuition, 
Man  is,  in  this  sense,  a  twofold  being.  But  the  masculine 
moiety  comprises  the  dualism  of  Sense  and  Intellect ;  and 
the  feminine  moiety,  the  dualism  of  Soul  and  Perception. 

2.  Owing  to  this  duality  of  his  constitution,  every  doc- 
trine relating  to  Man  has,  primarily,  a  dual  significance 
and  application.  And  owing  to  his  fourfoldness,  it  has 
also,  secondarily,  a  fourfold  significance  and  application. 
The  interpretation,  therefore,  of  any  doctrine  must,  to  be 
complete,  be  at  the  least  twofold.  And  since  there  is 
between  the  inner  and  outer  spheres  of  man's  being  an 
exact  correspondence,  by  virtue  of  which,  whatever  subsists 
or  occurs  in  the  one  sphere  has  its  counterpart  in  the  other, 
the  terms  which  describe  the  one  apply  also  to  the  other ; 
and  no  interpretation  or  application  is  complete  which  may 
not  include  both  spheres. 

3.  Thus  it  comes — to  quote  a  fragment  of  Hermetic 
derivation— that : — 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  I75 

"  All  Scriptures  which  are  the  true  Word  of  God,  have 
a  dual  interpretation,  the  Intellectual  and  the  Intuitional^ 
the  Apparent  and  the  Hidden. 

"  For  nothing  can  come  forth  from  God  save  that  which 
is  fruitful. 

"  As  is  the  nature  of  God,  so  is  the  Word  of  God's  Mouth. 

"  The  Letter  alone  is  barren ;  the  Spirit  and  the  Letter 
give  Life. 

"  But  that  Scripture  is  the  more  excellent  which  is  exceed- 
ing fruitful,  and  brings  forth  abundant  signification. 

"  For  God  is  able  to  say  many  things  in  one  ;  as  the  perfect 
Ovary  contains  many  seeds  in  its  Chalice. 

"  Therefore  there  a7'e  in  the  Scriptures  of  Gods  Word, 
certain  Writings  which,  as  richly  yielding  Trees,  bear  tfiore 
abundantly  than  others  in  the  selfsame  holy  Garden. 

^^  And  ofie  of  the  most  excellent  is  the  Farable  of  the  Fall, 
which,  as  a  stream  parted  into  four  branches,  has  a  fourfold 
head,  and  is  a  word  exceeding  rich." 

For  a  parable  it  is,  and  not  a  history,  as  ordinarily 
understood,  but  having  a  hidden,  that  is,  a  mystic  mean- 
ing ; — a  parable,  moreover,  which,  while  founded  indeed 
upon  a  particular  fact,  is  true  for  all  time,  in  that  it  is 
perpetually  being  enacted.  Being  thus,  the  Parable  of  the 
Fall  constitutes  an  Eternal  Verity. 

4.  The  opening  chapters  of  the  sacred  books  exhibit, 
then,  not  merely  events  occurring  in,  and  having  relation 
to,  a  particular  place  or  time,  but  the  meaning  and  object 
of  religion  at  large,  the  creation  of  man,  the  nature  of  sin, 
and  the  method  of  salvation  ;  and  all  these  as  perpetually 
subsisting.  These  chapters  constitute  thus  a  kind  of 
argument  or  abstract  prefixed  to  the  divine  drama  of  man's 
spiritual  history.  And  the  key  to  their  intepretation  is  the 
word  NOW. 


176  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

5.  For,  in  the  Divine  Mind,  there  is  no  past,  in  the 
Divine  economy,  no  future.  God  is  I  AM,  and  always  IS. 
The  term  Jehovah  combines  in  one  word  the  tenses  past, 
present,  and  future  of  the  verb  I  AM.  Scripture  is  a  record 
of  that  which  is  always  taking  place.  Thus,  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  is  original  Life,  is  always  moving  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters,  or  heavenly  deep,  which  is  original  Sub- 
stance. And  the  One,  which  consists  of  these  two,  is 
always  putting  forth  alike  the  Macrocosm  of  the  universe 
and  the  Microcosm  of  the  individual,  and  is  always  making 
man  in  the  image  of  God,  and  placing  him  in  a  garden 
of  innocence  and  perfection,  the  garden  of  his  own  unso- 
phisticated nature.  And  man  is  always  falling  away  from 
that  image  and  quitting  that  garden  for  the  wilderness  of 
sin,  being  tempted  by  the  serpent  of  sense,  his  own  lower 
element.  And  from  this  condition  and  its  consequences  he 
is  always  being  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice 
always  being  made  for  him  by  the  Christ  Jesus,  who  is  Son 
at  once  of  God  and  of  man,  and  is  always  being  born  of  a 
pure  virgin  ; — dying,  rising,  and  ascending  into  heaven. 

6.  For  these  are,  one  and  all,  mystic  terms  denoting 
facts  of  perpetual  recurrence  in  the  history  of  the  Soul,  and 
necessary  to  salvation.  It  depends,  however,  upon  the 
sense  in  which  they  are  understood,  whether  they  minister 
to  salvation  or  to  condemnation.  The  letter,  it  is  declared, 
killeth  ;  the  letter  and  the  spirit  together  have  and  confer 
life.  For,  while  interpreted  in  one  sense — the  sense  of  the 
spirit— they  are  divine  truths  ;  interpreted  in  another  sense 
— the  sense  of  the  letter— they  are  idolatrous  falsehoods. 
And  inasmuch  as  idolatry  consists  in  the  materialisation 
of  spiritual  mysteries,  and  the  substitution  for  the  true 
things  signified,  of  their  material  symbols ;  those  interpre- 
tations  are   idolatrous   which   give   to   mystical    doctrines 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  177 

physical  applications.  Now,  all  Scripture  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God  is  mystical ;  and,  in  its  esoteric  sense,  deals  not 
with  material  things,  but  with  spiritual  reahties,  the  mystic 
intention  of  the  things  named  being  alone  implied,  and 
by  no  means  the  things  themselves.  And  this  rule  holds 
good  alike  of  those  two  divisions  of  Scripture  which  are 
called  respectively  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament. 

7.  In  accordance,  then,  with  the  fourfold  constitution  of 
existence,  the  Parable  of  the  Fall  has  a  fourfold  significa- 
tion. But,  inasmuch  as  that  which  is  true  of  the  race  is 
true  also  of  the  individual,  and  that  which  is  true  of  the 
individual  is  true  also  of  the  race,  each  portion  of  the 
fourfold  signification  has  a  twofold  application,  namely,  to 
the  race  and  to  the  individual.  For  each  alike  it  is  true 
on  the  planes  spiritual,  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical. 
And  it  is  constructed  in  terms  derived  from  this  last, 
because  only  tluis  it  can  find  on  any  plane  universal 
recognition  ;  since  the  physical  is  the  universal  mirror  ot 
the  unmanifest,  and  is  the  only  medium  capable  of  reflect- 
ing at  once  all  the  three  planes  above  itself.  Thus  repre- 
sented in  terms  derived  from  the  physical,  it  possesses  a 
meaning  for  all,  if  only  as  an  allegory  of  the  Seasons,  for — 
having  an  astronomical  basis — such  it  also  is. 

8.  So  far,  however,  from  being  intended  to  represent 
the  actual  natural  history,  either  of  the  planet  or  of  man, 
or  to  be  what  now-a-days  it  is  the  fashion  to  call  scientific, 
it  is  so  contrived  as  to  make  that  history  appear  to  be 
the  reverse  of  what  it  really  is.  For,  read  by  the  super- 
ficial sense,  it  represents  man  as  created  perfect  from  the 
first,  by  a  power  working  from  without ;  whereas,  the 
truth  is,  that  he  is  created  by  gradual  development  from 
rudimentary  being,  by  a  power — the  Divine  Spirit — work- 
ing   from   within.      For  this   is   ever  the  method   of    the 

N 


178  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

Divine  procedure,  and  it  is  this  that  the  parable  really 
implies. 

9.  But  only  when  it  is  understood  what  the  mystic  books 
mean  by  Man,  does  the  true  meaning  appear.  And  as, 
until  this  is  understood,  it  is  vain  to  attempt  to  interpret 
those  books,  a  definition  of  the  term  Man,  as  therein  em- 
ployed, must  be  our  first  concern. 

A  materialistic  science,  discerning  only  the  outward 
appearance  of  things,  and  taking,  therefore,  no  account  of 
qualities,  necessarily  makes  the  Form  all.  Hence,  for  it, 
man  is  but  a  primate  among  the  animals,  and  sufficiently 
defined  under  the  terms  Mammal.^  Biped,  Biinanous,  and 
the  like.  The  notion  that  the  form,  to  be  valid,  must  be 
filled  up,  and  that  he  who  is  man  in  form  only,  and  is  de- 
void of  all  the  qualities,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual, 
which  are  comprised  in  the  term  humanity,  is  not  really 
man,  is  a  notion  which  does  not  enter  into  the  conception 
of  the  Materialist. 

10.  According  to  mystical  doctrine,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  who  is  human  in  form  only,  is  but  roan  rudimentary,  and 
to  be  classed,  in  all  essential  respects,  with  those  lower 
grades  of  humanity,  the  plants  and  animals.  He  has,  like 
them,  the  potentiahty  only  of  humanity,  and  is  no  reahsed 
humanity.  For,  according  to  this  doctrine,  man's  supreme 
function  is  knowledge ;  so  that  he  is  not  man  until  he 
knows,  or,  at  least,  has  found  his  organon  of  knowledge, 
and  is  capable  of  knowing.  Besides,  the  very  term  know- 
ledge, has,  in  this  relation,  a  special  meaning.  For  the 
mystic  applies  it  only  to  the  cognition  which  is  of  Realities. 
That  alone  for  him  is  knowledge,  which  has  for  its  subject 
the  nature  of  Being,  his  own  nature,  that  is,  and  God's;  not 
phenomena  merely,  but  Substance,  and  its  method  of  oper- 
ation.    And,  forasmuch  as,  in  order  to  have  this  knowledge^ 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  179 

a  man  must  have  attained  his  spiritual  consciousness,  it 
follows  that,  according  to  mystical  definition,  man  is  not 
man  until  he  has  attained  the  consciousness  of  his  spiritual 
nature.  To  attain  this  consciousness,  and  this  alone,  is  to 
attain  true  manhood.  And,  prior  to  the  attainment  of  this, 
the  individual  is  but  as  an  infant,  incompetent  to  fulfil,  or 
even  to  comprehend,  the  functions  of  manhood. 

11.  The  reason  of  this  is,  that  man  is  a  dual  being,  not 
masculine  only  or  feminine  only,  but  both  of  these ;  not 
man  only  or  woman  only,  but  man  and  woman.  And  he 
is  this  in  respect,  not  of  his  exterior  and  physical,  but  of 
his  interior  and  spiritual  nature.  For,  since  humanity  is 
dual,  that  which,  being  man,  represents  humanity,  nmst  be 
dual  also.  And  this  cannot  be  on  the  plane  merely 
physical,  whereon  but  one  moiety  only  of  the  human  dual- 
ism can  be  expressed  in  the  same  individual.  On  this 
plane  it  takes  two  persons,  a  man  and  a  woman,  to  express 
the  whole  humanity.  And  it  is  by  means  of  its  two  sexes 
that  the  body  constitutes  a  symbol  of  the  humanity  which, 
in  being  interior  and  permanent,  is  alone  the  humanity 
which  is  real. 

12.  For, —  as  already  stated,— -that  whereby  the  man 
attains  to  manhood  is  woman.  It  is  his  power  to  recog- 
nise, appreciate,  and  appropriate  her,  that  stamps  him, 
physically,  man.  She  it  is  who,  influencing  him  through 
the  affections  kindled  by  her  in  him,  withdraws  him  from 
his  outward  and  aimless  course,  in  which,  left  to  himself, 
he  would  sooner  or  later  be  dissipated  and  lost ;  and 
who,  gathering  him  round  herself  as  centre,  redeems  him 
and  makes  him  into  Jt  system  capable  of  self-perpetuation, 
supplementing  and  ( omplementing  meanwhile  his  mascu- 
line qualities,  as  will,  force,  and  intellect,  with  her  feminine 
qualities,  as  enduran<:e,  love,  and  intuition.     Thus,  by  the 


l8o  TFJE  PERFECT   WAY, 

addition  of  herself  she  makes  him  Man.  It  is  not  to  the 
male  moiety  of  the  dualism  constituted  by  them,  that  the 
term  Man  is,  properly,  applicable,  any  more  than  to  the 
female  moiety.  Neither  of  them  separately  is  Man  ;  and  it 
is  by  an  unfortunate  defect  of  language  that  the  masculine 
half  of  man  is  called  a  man.i  He  is  man  male,  as  she 
is  man  female.  And  only  when  wedded,  that  is  welded^ 
into  one  by  a  perfect  marriage,  does  Man  result,  the  two 
together  thus  blended  making  one  humanity, — as  earth  and 
water  make  one  Earth, — and  by  their  power  of  self-perpetu- 
ation and  multiplication  demonstrating  the  completeness 
and  perfection  of  their  system. 

13.  Only  because  it  is  already  so  with  Humanity  on  the 
inner  plane,  is  it  so  on  the  outer.  Whatever  the  sex  of  the 
person  physically,  each  individual  is  a  dualism,  consisting 
of  exterior  and  interior,  manifested  personality  and  essential 
individuality,  body  and  soul,  which  are  to  each  other  mas- 
culine and  feminine,  man  and  woman ;  he  the  without,  and 
she  the  within.  And  all  that  the  woman,  on  the  planes 
physical  and  social,  is  to  the  man,  that  she  is  also  on  the 
planes  intellectual  and  spiritual.  For,  as  Soul  and  Intuition 
of  Spirit,  she  withdraws  him,  physically  and  mentally,  from 
dissipation  and  perdition  in  the  outer  and  material ;  and  by 
centralising  and  substantialising  him  redeems  and  crowns 
him; — from  a  phantom  converting  him  into  an  entity,  from 

1  Much  and  serious  misconception  has  arisen  from  the  use  of  the 
same  term  to  denote  both  the  whole  humanity  and  the  masculine  half 
of  humanity.  The  confusion  is  identical  with  that  which  arises  from 
the  use  of  the  word  Earth  to  denote  both  the  entire  globe  of  earth  and 
water,  and  the  solid  portion  only  of  the  globe.  As  in  its  former  sense 
earth  and  water  are  equally  Earth,  the  one  being  as  earth  masculine, 
and  the  other  as  earth  feminine,  so  man  and  woman  are  equally  Man, 
the  one  being  man  masculine,  and  the  other  man  feminine.  For  her  as 
well  as  for  him,  the  exterior  personaUty  is  what  mystically  is  called  the 
•*  man,"  and  the  interior  being  is  the  *'  woraan." 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  i8l 

a  mortal  into  an  immortal,  from  a  man  into  a  god.  With- 
out her,  it  were  better  both  for  himself  and  for  others  that 
he  should  not  be  at  all.  On  no  plane  of  being  is  it  good 
that  the  man-element  be  alone.  For  without  Love,  Force 
can  but  work  evil  until  it  be  ^pent.  And  such  is  man  and 
his  doom  until  he  finds  and  is  found  of  her,  the  soul  and 
woman  within  him.  She  is  to  him  very  '*  mother  of  the 
living,"  and  without  her  is  no  life.  And  she  is  this  because 
she  is,  by  her  nature,  that  wherein  the  Divine  Life  resides. 
For,  as  the  soul  is  the  life  of  t  le  man,  so  is  the  spirit,  which 
is  God,  the  life  of  the  soul.  Thus  is  she  mediator  between 
man  and  God,  to  draw  them  together  in  herself.  And  only 
he  is  truly  alive,  is  truly  Man,  and  made  after  the  Divine 
Image,  in  whom  she  thus  operates.  Redeeming  him  from 
chaos  and  making  him  a  Kosmos,  she  is  the  centripetal  to 
his  centrifugal,  the  attractive  to  his  separative,  the  con- 
structive to  his  destructive,  the  synthesis  to  his  analysis,  the 
being  to  his  seeming,  the  realty  to  his  illusory.  With  her 
advent  he  begins  to  be ;  and  thenceforth,  through  her,  he 
can  claim  kindred  with  the  I  AM. 

14.  Man,  then,  in  our  para)  >le,  is  represented  as  created 
perfect  in  that  he  is,  in  the  my^Jtical  sense,  male  and  female, 
that  is,  he  has  a  soul — ani?n2  divina — superadded  to  his 
exterior  personality, — anima  Iruta, — each  of  which  is  con- 
scious of  the  separate  existenc<-^  of  each.  Their  attainment 
of  this  consciousness  is  repre  ented  under  the  allegory  of 
the  creation  of  the  woman  ;  tiiey  first  then  begin  to  exist 
for  each  other.  The  time  <  hosen  for  the  attainment  of 
this  stage  in  their  history,  is  an  important  element  in  the 
process.  For  it  is  the  same  lor  all  men.  It  is  not  while 
engaged  in  the  active  exercise  of  his  masculine  quaHties 
that  man  first  becomes  consc  ous  of  his  other  and  better, 
because   interior   and   divine,    self.       His   aggressive  and 


l82  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

destructive  tendencies  must  have  been  exhausted,  and  the 
animal  in  him,  his  own  exterior  self, — in  a  word,  the  man 
part  of  him, — cast  into  deep  slumber,  before  the  woman  in 
him  can  reveal  herself,  and  make  him  conscious  of  some- 
thing, or  rather  some  one^  within  him, — himself,  yet  differing 
from  himself,  and  higher  and  better  than  anything  he  has 
before  had  or  been. 

1 5.  Once  recognised,  and  her  reality  and  superiority  ad- 
mitted, there  is  no  height  of  goodness  and  knowledge  to 
which  she  cannot  raise  him,  if  but  only  he  follow  her  lead, 
and  keep  her  free  from  defilement  by  Matter  and  Sense, 
the  direct  traffic  with  which  appertains  to  him.  In  order 
properly  to  fulfil  her  function  in  regard  to  the  man,  and 
attract  his  regards  upwards  to  her,  she  must  herself  aspire 
continually  to  the  Divine  Spirit  within  her,  the  central  sun 
of  herself,  as  she  is  that  of  the  man.  If,  withdrawing  her 
gaze  from  this,  she  fix  it  on  things  without  and  below,  she 
falls,  and  in  her  fall  takes  him  with  her.  Except  through 
her,  he  cannot  fall ;  for  only  through  her  does  he  at  all  rise, 
being,  by  his  very  nature  the  lowermost,  and  of  himself 
incapable  of  rising.  For  he  rests  on  the  material  plane,  and 
is  of  earth  earthy. 

16.  It  is  not  because  Matter  is  in  itself  evil  that  the  soul's 
descent  into  it  constitutes  a  fall  and  ensures  disaster.  It  is 
because  to  the  soul,  Matter  is  a  forbidden  thing.  So  that 
the  act  constitutes  a  disobedience.  The  prohibition,  how- 
ever, is  not  an  arbitrary  one,  but  is  founded  in  the  soul's 
own  nature,  as  also  is  the  penalty  attached  to  her  trans- 
gression. Only  by  remaining  spiritual  substance  can  soul 
subsist  as  soul,  having  all  the  potentialities  of  soul  By 
quitting  her  own  proper  condition  and  descending  into 
Matter,  she  takes  upon  herself  the  limitations  of  Matter. 
As  between  Spirit  and  Matter  there  is  no  boundary  line, 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  183 

it  is  only  by  the  maintenance  of  a  will  set  exclusively 
spiritwards,  that  a  soul  can  be  held  from  subsiding  into 
the  lower  condition  of  Matter,  finally  to  disintegrate  and 
perish. 

17.  Such  a  fall,  it  will  be  well  to  repeat,  does  not  involve 
the  loss  of  any  portion  of  the  divine  Substance.  The  ani- 
mating spirit  is  withdrawn,  and  the  constituent  elements 
are  separated.  That  only  which  perishes  is  the  individuality 
constituted  of  these.  And  it  perishes  through  its  own  per- 
sistent refusal  of  that  "  Gift  of  God  "  which  is  Eternal  Life, 
the  gift,  namely,  of  a  portion  of  God's  Self  or  Spirit.  Re- 
fusing this,  man  refuses  life,  as  he  is  free  to  do.  God  rejects 
and  annihilates  no  one.  Man,  by  his  rejection  of  God, 
annihilates  his  own  individuality.  And  God  cannot  make 
man  on  any  other  terms.  And  this,  for  the  reason  that 
God  is  omnipotent.  God  would  not  be  omnipotent  were 
the  individual  indestructible.  For  then  there  would  be 
something  not  God,  possessing  all  the  power  of  God.  So 
that,  instead  of  this  doctrine  being  an  impugnment  of  the 
Divine  love  and  goodness,  it  is  essential  to  these  qualities. 
God,  we  have  said,  rejects  and  destroys  nothing.  But  there 
is  in  things  evil  an  element  of  self-destruction,  in  the  opera- 
tion of  which  lies  the  safety  of  the  universe.  Were  the  fact 
otherwise, — could  individuals  subsist  for  ever  in  a  condition 
of  opposition  to  the  Divine  will, — then  would  evil  itself 
be  eternised  ;  and  the  universe,  divided  against  itself,  would 
fall.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  were  man  not  free  to  anni- 
hilate himself,  but  were  salvation  compulsory,  existence,  in- 
stead of  being  a  solemn  reality,  would  be  a  farce  wherein 
man  and  the  soul  would  be  but  mechanical  puppets  alto- 
gether unworthy  a  divine  creation.  By  the  law  of  Heredity, 
God's  freedom  involves  man's  freedom ;  and  this  involves 
the  freedom  to  renounce  God,  and  with  God,  all  Being. 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


Thus  is  the  saying  true,  "  For  him  who  will  not  have  God, 
God  is  not." 

1 8.  It  is  through  the  soul,  and  the  soul  only,  that  man 
learns  the  Divine  will,  and,  learning  it,  saves  himself.  And 
the  clearness  with  which  the  soul,  on  her  part,  discerns  and 
transmits  that  will,  depends  upon  her  purity.  In  this  word 
purity  lies  the  essence  of  all  religion.  It  is  the  burden  of 
the  whole  Bible  and  of  all  bibles.  Always  is  purity  insisted 
on  as  the  means  to  salvation  ;  always  impurity  as  the  cause 
of  condemnation.  To  this  uniformity  of  doctrine  the  Par- 
able of  the  Fall  is  no  exceptio^i.  With  the  soul  pure,  man 
dwells  in  Eden  and  "  sees  God."  With  the  soul  impure,  he 
is  driven  forth  into  the  Wilderness.  Such,  on  the  plane 
spiritual,  is  the  operation  of  that  great  law  of  gravitation 
which — as  has  been  said — is  the  one  law  of  existence.  Sal- 
vation and  condemnation  are  matters  of  spiritual  gravitation. 
Man  tends  towards  or  away  from  God — the  Tree  of  Life — 
according  to  the  specific  gravity  of  his  soul.  Of  this  the 
density  depends  upon  the  nature  of  the  affections  culti- 
vated by  him.  And  this,  again,  depends  upon  his  own  Will, 
which  is  free.  Wherefore,  in  being  the  regulator  of  his  own 
specific  gravity,  he  is  the  arbiter  of  his  own  destiny ;  and 
according  as  he  himself  wills,  he  tends  inwards  and  upwards 
to  salvation,  or  outwards  and  downwards  to  extinction. 
Yielding  to  the  Tempter  Sense,  and  making  Matter,  not 
his  means  merely  but  his  end,  his  soul  loses  at  length  her 
spiritual  nature.  Nevertheless,  while  there  is  life  in  her 
there  is  hope  for  him.  But  only  through  a  return  to  purity. 
For  only  when  she  has  regained  her  "  virginity  "  and  become 
''immaculate,"  can  the  Christ — his  saviour — be  born  ol 
her. 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  185 

Part  II. 

19.  The  full  significance  of  the  Parable  under  consider- 
ation, and  the  unity  of  the  mystic  Scriptures,  become  con- 
spicuously apparent  when  we  collate  their  various  corre- 
sponding utterances,  as  by  taking  into  account  those  also 
of  the  Book  of  Revelation.  For  it  is  there  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Woman  receives  its  crowning  recognition  as 
the  foundation  of  that  true  Christianity  which  those  persist- 
ent suppressors  of  the  woman — the  world's  materialising 
priesthoods— have  so  nearly  extinguished.  Let  us,  then, 
— though  at  the  risk  of  some  repetition — collate  these  two 
utterances,  between  the  delivery  of  which  so  many  thou- 
sands of  years  elapsed. 

20.  In  creating  Man,  God  creates  one  whole  and  perfect 
being,  formed  of  two  distinct  parts,  Adam  the  earthly,  ex- 
terior man,  and  Eve  the  spiritual  and  interior  man,  his  soul 
and  "  living  mother."  These  two  are  joined  together  by 
God  in  perfect  union  as  one  creature,  and  made,  for  the 
time,  indispensable  to  each  other.  Adam,  as  the  manifested 
personality  or  man,  is  not  complete,  that  is,  is  not  a  man 
having  Manhood,  until  Eve,  the  soul  or  woman,  is  added  to 
him  as  helpmeet  and  guide.  By  the  addition  of  her  the  two 
natures  become  one  Humanity. 

21.  From  this  state  of  perfection  Humanity  soon  falls. 
For  Eve,  the  soul,  withdrawing  her  steadfast  gaze  from  the 
proper  object  of  her  regard,  namely,  her  spirit,  God,  fastens 
them  on  things  below,  things  eartiily  and  material,  which 
are  to  her  the  "  forbidden  fruit,"  since  her  nature  is  spiritual. 
Beholding  this  fruit,  and  finding  it  pleasant  to  the  eyes,  she 
puts  forth  her  hand  and  plucks  of  it,  and  gives  of  it  to  her 
husband,  or  Adam,  to  eat  with  her. 

22.  This  is  ever  the  history  of  sin.      The  exterior  per- 


I86  THE   PERFECT   WAY, 

sonality  cannot  of  itself  sin,  for  it  is  not  a  responsible  being. 
Sin  is  of  the  soul ;  and  it  comes  of  the  soul's  inclination 
to  the  things  of  sense.  Taking  of  this  fruit  and  enjoying  it, 
she  is  said  to  eat  it.  And  at  her  instigation  "  Adam  "  does 
likewise.  And  thenceforth,  instead  of  the  soul  operating 
within  him  to  purify  and  enlighten  him,  and  lead  him  up- 
wards towards  the  Spirit,  together  they  become  sensual  and 
debased.  And  thus  the  sin,  which  has  its  commencement 
in  the  thought  of  the  soul,  afterwards  becomes  developed 
into  action  through  the  energy  of  the  body  or  masculine 
part. 

23.  The  sin  consummated,  the  result  is  inevitable.  Adam 
and  his  wife,  the  man  and  his  soul,  hear  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  God  speaking  through  their  conscience.  And  sensible 
that  they  are  no  longer  clad  in  the  purity  which  alone  en- 
ables man  to  face  his  Maker,  they  fly,  as  one  caught  naked, 
to  hide  from  the  Divine  presence.  Having  rejected  God, 
and  no  longer  looking  up  to  Him  as  her  Lord  and  King, 
the  soul,  Eve,  falls  under  the  sway  of  Adam  and  the  body. 
He  rules  her,  and  her  desire  is  unto  him  :  and  thencefurth 
Matter  has  dominion  in  them  over  the  spirit.  The  garden 
of  perfection  is  lost,  and  the  world  becomes  for  them  a  wil- 
derness. 

24.  Meanwhile  Adam,  being  interrogated  by  the  Divine 
Voice,  lays  the  blame  upon  Eve.  For,  but  for  the  soul 
within  him,  the  man  had  not  known  or  been  capable  of 
committing  sin  ;  sin  being  possible  only  where  there  is  a 
sense  of  right  and  wrong,  which  the  soul  alone  possesses. 
Eve,  interrogated  in  her  turn,  throws  the  blame  on  the 
serpent  of  Matter — sense,  or  the  lower  nature — through 
whose  allurements  she  has  fallen.  It  is  no  particular  act 
that  thus  constitutes  sin.  And  sin  does  not  consist  in 
fulfilling  any  of  the  functions  of  nature.      Sin  consists  in 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL 


acting  without  or  against  the  spirit,  and  in  not  seeking  the 
divine  sanction  for  everything  that  is  done.  For  sin  is  not 
of  the  physical  but  of  the  spiritual  man.  And  by  the  spirit 
the  act  is  redeemed  or  condemned.  It  is  sheer  materialism 
and  idolatry  to  regard  an  act  as  itself  sinful.  For  to  do 
this,  is  to  invest  that  which  is  merely  physical  with  a 
spiritual  attribute. 

25.  The  natural  result  of  the  soul's  enslavement  to  Mat- 
ter is  her  liability  to  extinction.  In  her  own  nature  the 
soul  is  immortal.  That  is,  she  does  not  partake  the  death 
which  befalls  the  body,  but  survives  to  take  on  other  bodies, 
and  continues  to  do  so  until  she  has  finally  built  up  a 
spiritual  man  worthy  and  capable  of  enduring  for  ever. 
But  the  lower  she  sinks  herself  into  Matter,  the  lower  be- 
comes her  vitality  and  power  of  recovery.  So  that  unless 
she  turn  and  mend,  she  must  ultimately  perish  ;  for  she  will 
lose  altogether  the  Divine  Spirit  which  is  her  necessary  life. 

26.  Notwithstanding  the  soul's  fall,  then,  there  is  still 
hope  of  recovery  for  man.  She  shall  yet,  she  is  divinely 
assured,  "crush  the  serpent's  head."  Not  her  seed  only, 
but  herself, — the  soul, — when  fully  restored.  For  this  is  the 
true  rendering,  both  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  and  in  the 
far  older  Bible  of  the  Zodiac — that  indefeasible  prophecy 
of  the  soul's  history.  So  that  she  who  has  been  the  cause 
of  the  fall,  shall  be  the  means  also  of  redemption.  "  I  will 
put'enmity,"  says  God  to  the  serpent,  "between  thee  and 
the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed ;  She  shall 
crush  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  lie  in  wait  for  her  heel." 
For  the  fallen  soul,  retaining  in  some  degree  her  spirituality, 
and  recoiling  from  a  merely  material  estimate  of  things, 
constitutes  in  the  man  a  constant  protest  against  his  en- 
grossment by  his  lower  nature.  It  is,  therefore,  of  the  soul, 
restored  to  her  pure  estate,  and  not  of  the  body  and  its 


i88  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

animal  propensities,  that  the  redeemed  man  must  be  born. 
The  first  Adam  is  of  the  earth,  earthy,  and  liable  to  death. 
The  second  is  *'  from  heaven,"  and  triumphant  over  death. 
For  "  sin  has  no  more  dominion  over  him."  He,  therefore, 
is  the  product  of  a  soul  purified  from  defilement  by  Matter, 
and  released  from  subjection  to  the  body.  Such  a  soul  is 
called  virgin.  And  she  has  for  spouse,  not  Matter — for 
that  she  has  renounced — but  the  Divine  Spirit,  which  is 
God.  And  the  man  born  of  this  union  is  in  the  image  of 
God,  and  is  God  made  man ;  that  is,  he  is  Christ,  and  it  is 
the  Christ  thus  born  in  every  man  who  redeems  him  and 
endows  him  with  eternal  life.  For  in  him  the  man  becomes 
transmuted  from  Matter  into  Spirit.  He  is  the  man  him- 
self, by  regeneration  become  a  son  at  once  of  man  and 
of  God.  Generation,  degeneration,  regeneration, — in  these 
three  terms  is  comprised  the  whole  process  of  the  soul's 
history. 

27.  This  triumphant  consummation  of  the  soul's  course 
is  thus  celebrated  in  the  Apocalypse.  "  I  beheld,"  says 
the  seer,  "a  great  wonder  in  heaven:  a  woman  clothed 
with  the  sun,  having  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  on  her 
head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  This  is  the  soul  invested 
with  the  light  of  supreme  knowledge  attained  through  the 
experiences  undergone  in  the  long  series  of  her  past  exist- 
ences ;  standing  on  the  moon  as  victor  over  materiality  and 
firm  in  the  faith  of  a  full  intuition, — states  denoted  re- 
spectively by  the  dark  and  light  portions  of  the  moon ;  and 
superior  evermore  to  the  changes  and  chances  of  mortal 
destiny,  the  stars  which  represent  this  being  the  jewels  of 
her  crown,  each  of  them  denoting  one  of  the  "  twelve  la- 
bours "  necessary  to  be  endured  by  the  soul  on  her  path  to 
her  final  perfectionment,  and  the  spiritual  gifts  and  graces 
acquired  in  the  process. 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  189 

28.  Of  the  woman  or  soul  thus  exalted,  the  offspring  is 
a  "  man-child,"  who  is  persecuted  by  the  "  serpent"  of  the 
lower  world.  It  is  a  man-child  for  several  reasons.  First, 
because  it  represents  the  good  deeds,  and  not  intentions  01 
thoughts  merely,  but  actual  works  and  positive  fruits  of  a 
soul  overshadowed  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  fertilised  by 
the  Divine  Love.  In  the  origination  of  such  deeds,  the 
outer  nature  or  man  can  have  no  part ;  they  proceed  wholly 
from  the  soul  or  woman.  And  they  constitute  a  man-child, 
because  deeds  imply  an  exercise  of  the  masculine  element 
of  force.  And  they  are  necessary  to  salvation,  not  because 
they  themselves  can  save,  but  because  they  indicate  the 
redemption  of  the  individual  who  performs  them.  Faith 
and  holy  longing  are  feminine,  and  of  themselves  insufficient. 
They  must  be  supplemented  by  works — which  are  mas- 
culine— in  order  to  win  acceptance  in  God's  sight.  **  For 
the  man  is  not  without  the  woman,  nor  the  woman  without 
the  man,  in  the  Lord."  And  "  the  Lord  "  means  and  is  the 
whole  humanity  of  man  and  woman,  as  su1>sisring  in  the 
Divine  Idea.  Without  the  child,  therefore,  and  this  a  man- 
child,  the  allegory  would  have  been  incomplete. 

29.  Now  the  good  deeds  thus  engendered  are  the  special 
aversion  of  the  devil,  or  principle  of  evil,  since,  more  than 
all  else,  they  endanger  his  kingdom.  Hence  he  is  repre- 
sented as  seeking  to  annihilate  both  them  and  the  soul 
which  has  given  them  birth.  But  though  the  soul  must  yet 
remain  in  the  world  to  endure  trial  and  persecution  until 
the  time  comes  for  God  to  end  her  probation  and  call  her  to 
her  final  joy  with  Himself,  it  is  not  so  with  her  offsi)ring ; 
but  this  is  forthwith  caught  up  to  God  and  His  throne. 
For,  the  good  deed  once  wrought  cannot  be  destroyed  ;  but 
God  accepts  and  preserves  it,  and  the  devil  has  no  power 
over  it.     Wherefore  the  latter,  finding  it  useless  to  pursue 


190  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

the  man-child,  redoubles  his  efforts  against  the  soul,  and 
pours  forth  a  flood  of  temptations,  in  order,  if  possible,  to 
sweep  her  from  God's  sight.  Slie,  however,  though  still  in 
the  **  wilderness  "  of  the  flesh,  is  divinely  sustained  and  de- 
livered. The  rest  of  her  seed,  the  good  deeds  she  con- 
tinues to  bring  forth,  are  still  the  subject  of  persecution, 
until  the  dragon  is  Anally  overcome  through  what  mystically 
is  called  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb,  which  is  the  pure  doctrine 
and  life  whereby  the  elect  are  made  sons  of  God  and  heirs 
of  eternal  life. 

30.  In  the  final  exaltation  which  awaits  her  as  the  reward 
of  her  faithfulness,  the  woman,  or  soul,  is  described  as  ar- 
rayed by  God  in  the  white  linen  of  righteousness,  the 
emblem  of  perfect  purity,  and  given  to  be  the  bride  of  His 
"  only  son,"  Christ  Jesus.  This  is  the  man  perfected 
through  experience  of  suffering,  and  made  regenerate 
through  following  his  soul's  pure  intuition  of  God.  And 
he  is  called  the  "  only  son,"  not  because  he  is  a  single  in- 
dividual, but  because  only  he  is  so  designated  who  comes 
up  to  this  description.  He  always  is  a  son  of  God,  who  is 
the  product,  not  of  a  soul  defiled  by  contact  of  Matter,  but 
of  a  soul  pure  and  vitalised  of  the  Spirit.  The  character  or 
"  man  "  thus  reborn  is  an  "  only  begotten  son  of  God,"  be- 
cause God  begets  none  of  any  other  kind.  Of  men  such 
as  this  are  the  '*  saints  "  who  "  inherit  the  earth."  And 
under  their  rule,  the  "  New  Jerusalem,"  or  state  of  perfec- 
tion, which  "  cometh  down  from  heaven," — the  city  which 
has  God  for  its  sun,  and  which  has  no  temple,  because 
every  man  is  himself  a  house  of  God, — replaces  the  lost 
garden  of  Eden. 

31.  Side  by  side  with  this  epitome  of  the  history  of  the 
pure  and  faithful  soul,  the  allegory  traces  that  of  the  per- 
verse  soul,   under  the  type  of  an  abandoned  woman  who 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  191 

sits  upon  the  "  seven  hills  "  of  the  "  seven  deadly  sins,"  and 
allies  herself  in  wickedness  with  the  '*  kings  of  the  earth.'* 
That  is,  who  yields  wholly  to  the  promptings  of  the  lower 
nature,  and  accepts  in  all  its  grossness  and  cruelty  a  civilisa- 
tion merely  materialistic,  in  which  the  body  is  made  all,  and 
the  spirit  and  every  divine  principle  are  set  at  nought. 

32.  The  completeness  of  the  parable  in  Genesis  appears 
yet  more  distinctly  when  we  compare  the  curse  pronounced 
on  Adam  with  man's  actual  condition  in  material  respects. 
The  sentence  in  its  proper  integrity,  runs  thus  : — "  And 
unto  Adam  God  said.  Because  thou  hast  hearkened  unto 
the  voice  of  thy  wife  when  beguiled  of  the  devil,  and  hast 
eaten  of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee,  saying,  Thou 
shalt  not  eat  of  it :  cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake  \  in 
sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life  ;  thorns 
also  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee ;  and  thou  shalt 
eat,  instead  of  the  nobler  fruit  of  the  tree  which  grows 
spontaneously,  the  grosser  herb  of  the  field  which  requires 
laborious  cultivation.  For,  in  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt 
thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground  out  of 
which  thou  wast  taken :  for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust 
shalt  thou  return."  This  is,  God  said  to  the  bodily  nature 
of  man  :  "  Because  thou  hast  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of 
thy  mate,  the  soul,  when,  turning  from  God,  she  inclined 
to  Matter,  and  from  being  spiritual  became  sensual,  thou 
must  lead  a  hard  and  painful  life,  occupied  by  ignoble  cares, 
and  return  by  death  to  the  lower  elements  to  perish.  Thy 
mate,  meanwhile,  though  also  liable  to  perish,  shall  still 
have  long  endurance,  but  henceforth — until  finally  purified 
and  redeemed — shall  bring  forth  her  works,  as  the  slave  of 
the  body,  in  great  trouble  and  compunction  for  her  fallen 
and  degraded  condition." 


192  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


Part  III. 

33.  All  the  mistakes  made  in  Biblical  interpretation 
come  of  referring  statements  of  which  the  intention  is  spi- 
ritual and  mystical,  implying  principles  or  states,  to  times, 
persons,  or  places.  But  though  these  are  never  the  essen- 
tial element  in  any  such  statement,  it  is,  nevertheless  true 
that  the  Bible  parables  are  either  based  upon  certain  special 
historical  facts,  or  are  stated  in  terms  derived  from  actual 
occurrences  ;  just  as  a  hiero-Iyphical  record  is  expressed  in 
symbols  drawn  from  the  animal  world,  and  yet  has  no  refer- 
ence to  that  world  ;  so  that  the  spiritual  significations  im- 
plied are  not  without  a  correspondence  of  some  sort  on  the 
natural  plane. 

34.  Now,  the  special  historical  fact  upon  the  lines  of 
which  the  parable  of  the  Fall  is  constructed,  is  one  which — 
already  implied  in  the  account  just  given  of  the  soul  in- 
dividual of  man — is  to  be  sought  in  the  history  of  the  soul 
collective  of  man, — in  the  history,  that  is,  of  the  Church,  an 
account  of  the  Fall  in  relation  to  which  will  occupy  the  rest 
of  this  lecture.  Sacerdotalism  has  always  claimed  for  the 
Church  the  distinction  of  being  the  mystic  woman  through 
whose  exaltation  redemption  occurs.  But  it  has  never  re- 
cognised the  Church  as  also  the  woman  through  whose  fall 
comes  the  need  of  redemption.  This  reproach  the  priest 
has  bestowed  in  a  quarter  in  which  originally  there  was  no 
idea  of  bestowing  it,  and  where  it  by  no  means  belongs, 
namely,  the  feminine  moiety  of  the  human  race.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding this  assumption  of  sacerdotalism,  it  is  to  the 
fall  of  the  Church  from  the  standard  attained  in  the  Edenic 
period,  that,  in  one  of  its  aspects,  the  parable  refers. 

35.  Even  so,  however,  the  interpretation  is  not  to  be  re- 
stricted to  any  single  or  special  instance.     It  is  only  as  a 


Lbct.  VII. ]  THE  FALL,  I93 

type  of  all  Churches  that  the  first  or  best  Church  is  em- 
ployed, precisely  as  the  soul  of  the  first  or  best  man  may 
be  employed  as  a  type  of  all  souls.  And  any  less  general 
application  would  deprive  the  parable  of  its  due  place  as 
an  eternal  and  universal  verity,  and  reduce  it  to  the  level  of 
the  merely  historical  and  local. 

36.  Nor,  in  likening  all  Churches  one  to  another  in 
respect  of  their  fall,  is  it  intended  to  assimilate  them  in 
respect  of  the  height  from  which  they  have  fallen.  All 
that  is  meant  is,  that,  whatever  the  level  of  spiritual  perfec- 
tion attained  by  any  mystic  community  or  Church  in  the 
full  flush  of  its  enthusiasm  and  purity,  there  is  always  a  fall 
from  such  level,  and  the  fall  is  due  to  one  and  the  self- 
same cause,  namely,  that  which  is  implied  in  the  parable 
of  Eden,  and  of  which  account  has  just  been  given  in 
relation  to  the  soul  as  individual.  For  of  the  soul's  fall, 
whether  in  one  or  in  many,  the  cause  is  always  the  same, — 
the  inclination  to  Matter. 

37.  The  rise  also  is  the  same,  both  in  cause  and  in 
method.  And  it  is  of  this — the  rise,  that  is,  of  the  earliest 
known — perhaps  the  original — Church  of  Christ — that  we 
have  first  to  speak.  This,  as  with  man  himself,  was  by 
evolution  from  rudimentary  being.  For  the  doctrine  of 
creation  by  evolution  is,  as  already  stated,  a  true  doctrine  , 
and  it  is  true  as  regards  both  man's  physical  and  man's 
spiritual  history.  And  it  has  been  the  doctrine  of  Mysti- 
cism from  the  beginning,  the  knowledge  of  it  being  re- 
served for  initiates  of  a  high  grade.  But  between  it  and  the 
travesty  of  it  propounded  by  the  science — wholly  material- 
istic— of  our  day,  is  this  essential  difference.  That  science, 
— "  falsely  so  called," — in  its  ignorance  of  the  nature  of 
Substance,  credits  Matter  with  a  power  of  evolution  while 
denying  to  it  the  properties  through  which  alone  evolu- 

o 


194  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

tion  can  occur,  namely,  inhering  life  and  consciousness. 
This  science,  moreover,  contemplates  as  possible  the  de- 
velopment of  that  which,  being  infinite  and  eternal,  is 
necessarily  all-perfect  in  perpetuity,  namely,  the  substance 
of  existence.  For  mysticism,  on  the  contrary,  existence — 
or,  more  properly,  Being — and  consciousness  are  terms 
synonymous  and  interchangeable;  and  all  Substance,  under 
whatever  mode  manifested,  continues  still  to  be,  in  some 
mode,  consciousness.  And  inasmuch  as  Substance  itself 
is  incapable  of  development,  in  the  sense  of  becoming  more 
or  better  than  it  originally  is,  development  is  not  of  the 
qualities  of  substance,  but  of  the  manifestation  of  those 
qualities  in  individuated  portions  of  it,  a  process  which — 
consisting  in  the  unfoldment  of  qualities  already  subsisting, 
but  latent — may  fairly  be  designated  evolution. 

38.  The  man  spiritual,  like  the  man  physical, — the 
Church,  like  the  world,  then,  represents  a  developmen*-. 
from  rudimentary  being,  occurring  in  virtue  of  the  nature 
of  the  substance  of  which  that  being  represents  the  pro- 
jection ;  and  the  only  difference  between  them  is  of  degree 
or  stage  of  development.  And  whereas  the  lowest  or  ma- 
terial plane  is  that  wherein  the  process  commences,  the 
highest  and  last  to  be  attained  is  the  celestial.  According 
to  the  degree  in  which  he  attains  this,  man  attains  the 
divine  and  is  at  one  with  God,  having,  in  virtue  of  the 
knowledge  thus  derived,  power  "  over  things  in  heaven  and 
things  on  earth," — power,  that  is,  over  both  regions,  the 
spiritual  and  the  material,  of  his  own  nature,  and  bemg 
altogether  superior  to  the  seductions  of  the  illusory  astral 
which  hes  between. 

39.  This  celestial  sphere  was  attained  by  the  Edenic 
Church  in  a  degree  never  reached  by  any  other.  Where- 
fore,   since   that   alone  is   such  a  Church  in  which  it  is 


Lect.  VIL]  the  fall.  195 

attained,  no  Church  which  has  subsequently  existed  has 
been  truly  Edenic ;  but  all  have  been  Churches  of  the  Fall. 
In  Eden  alone  was  man  made  in  the  "image  of  God," 
being  called  in  token  thereof,  Adam  and  Eve.  Then  was 
the  first  man,  according  to  the  mystical  definition  of  the 
term.  Men  and  women,  indeed,  had  subsisted  on  the  earth 
for  ages  before  him  ;  but  not  man  properly  so  called.  They 
were — as  the  vast  majority  of  men  and  women  still  are — 
man  only  in  the  making,  or,  it  may  be,  in  the  marring. 
Man  attains  manhood  and  becomes  Man,  only  when  he 
reaches  his  spiritual  majority.  The  attainment  of  the 
celestial  did  not,  and  does  not,  involve  the  abandonment 
of  the  terrestrial.  The  not  uncommon  notion,  that  man 
in  his  primal  perfection  was  a  non-material  or  fluidic  being, 
having  no  material  body,  is  erroneous.  Man,  while  yet  in 
the  body,  attained  "  power  over  the  body "  ;  from  fixed, 
making  it  volatile,  and,  though  not  immortal,  capable  of 
an  indefinitely  prolonged  existence,  its  vitality  meanwhile 
being  such  as  not  only  to  render  it  superior  to  disease  and 
injury  in  itself,  but  as  to  enable  it  to  communicate  health 
to  others.  These  results,  however, — stupendous  as  they 
would  now  be  deemed, — did  not  exhaust  the  potentialities 
of  our  race.  There  is  a  superior  stage  of  which  account 
will  be  given  when  we  come  to  treat  particularly  of  the 
redemption,  and  which  belongs  to  a  period  of  development 
transcending  that  of  the  Adamic  man.  Nevertheless, 
though  not  realising  all  the  possibilities  of  humanity,  the 
Edenic  Church  attained,  in  its  representative  members,  as 
no  other  religious  community  has  attained.  And  it  was 
through  that  Church's  failure  to  continue  at  the  same  high 
level,  that  the  fall  whereof  we  are  trcatmg,  occurred.  By 
this  fall,  man  receded  from  the  celestial  back  towards  his 
original  level,  the  terrestrial,  becoming  once  more  subject 


196  THE   PERFECT   WAY. 

to  Matter,  and  losing  the  power  over  his  body.  There  was. 
no  fall  on  the  part  of  the  individuals  themselves  who  had 
risen.  These  quitted  the  earth  and  passed  on  to  higher 
conditions  of  being.  The  Fall  came  through  the  failure  of 
the  succeeding  generations  to  attain  the  level  reached  by 
their  predecessors.  Failing  to  attain,  like  them,  the 
celestial,  man  remained  —  where,  with  a  few  individual 
exceptions,  he  has  ever  since  been — in  the  astral  and 
material. 

40.  Let  us  attempt  a  description  of  that  inmost  sphere — 
the  abode  of  the  man  celestial — which  is  at  once  the  source 
of  doctrine  and  the  sphere  wherein — as  representative  of 
the  soul  and  intuition— the  woman  especially  presides.  It 
is  a  memory  that  we  are  about  to  recall,  a  memory  re- 
covered of  an  age  not  absolutely  but  relatively  ''  golden," 
to  revisit  which  in  thought,  is  to  revert  to  a  period  in 
the  world's  youth,  when,  as  yet  unpoisoned  by  all-pervading 
sin  and  disease,  the  conditions  of  life  were  so  exquisite  in 
their  purity  and  harmony,  as  to  make  existence  itself  a 
positive,  intense  delight.  And  while  in  the  act  of  recover- 
ing that  memory,  and  enjoying  again  that  remote  past,  the 
mind  is  able  to  look  forward  as  well  as  backward,  and  to 
behold  the  whole  subsequent  period  of  the  world's  course — 
that  which  is  called  the  historical  period — as  but  a  season 
— brief  compared  with  that  which  preceded  it — of  sickness 
and  suffering  which  the  race,  by  its  own  fault,  has  brought 
upon  itself;  but  from  which,  it  seems,  rescue  is  not  impossi- 
ble, can  humanity  but  furnish  the  love  needful  for  the  task 
of  saving  itself  For  in  those  hyper-lucid  moments  it  is 
made  to  appear  as  a  self-evident  truth,  that  just  as  it  has 
been  possible  for  us  in  the  past  to  live  heahhily  and  happily, 
it  will  be  possible  for   us   to  do   so   in   the  future.     For 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  197 

Utopia  is  Utopia  only  for  those  who  insist  that  it  shall  for 
ever  be  Utopia  and  unrealised.  There  is  no  force  in  the 
universe  save  will-force ;  and  all  that  life  needs  for  life  is 
possible  to  will.  And,  continuing  to  operate  over  an  in- 
definite period,  even  a  finite  will  becomes  infinite.  Where- 
fore man  has  but  to  will  long  enough,  to  make  the  world  as 
he  would  have  it.  But  to  will  is  not  merely  to  wish,  but  to 
work  towards  the  desired  end.  It  is  for  the  woman  in  us 
to  wish,  and  therein  to  prompt.  She  is  the  inspirer.  But 
the  man  in  us  must  work.  He  is  the  executor.  Apart, 
powerless ;  together,  they  can  move  the  world.  He  and 
She,  Will  and  Love,  Spirit  and  Substance,  operating  in  the 
celestial,  created  the  world  ;  and  assuredly  they  can  redeem 
it. 

41.  That  which  we  propose  to  describe, — so  far  as  the 
attempt  to  reconstruct  it  has  been  successful, — is  the  inner- 
most sphere,  not,  indeed,  of  the  mystic  community  of  Eden 
itself,  but  of  one  of  those  ancient  successors  of  and  approxi- 
mations to  it,  which,  as  Colleges  of  the  Sacred  Mysteries, 
were  the  true  heirs  of  Eden,  and  which,  so  recently  even  as 
by  Plato,  were  described  as  places  wherein  were  repaired 
the  effects  of  the  Fall,  and  to  quit  which  for  the  outer  world 
was  to  quit  once  more  the  garden  for  the  wilderness.  Once 
accessible  to  all,  so  completely  now  has  the  true  character 
of  these  institutions  fallen  from  remembrance,  that  even 
scholars  write  them  down  as  instruments  of  imposture  and 
oppression,  and  devoid  of  special  knowledge  or  faculty. 
Wherefore  to  recover  them  is  to  re-create  them  ; — no  small 
task,  seeing  that  the  way  to  them,  even  in  thought,  is 
barred  and  banned  by  all  the  priestlioods,  so  that  only  by 
facing  and  piercing  the  formidable  phalanx  of  sacerdo- 
talism itself,  can  the  forbidden  ground  of  those  lost  para- 
dises be  even  approached. 


198  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

42.  For — as  recorded  in  classic  legend — the  golden 
fruit  of  a  perfect  doctrine  and  life,  produced  on  the  union 
of  Zeus  and  Hera, — the  man  and  woman  of  the  substantial 
humanity, — is  guarded  not  only  by  the  dragon  of  man's 
own  lower  nature,  but  also  by  the  "  daughters  of  the  sun- 
set,"— the  world's  materialistic  sacerdotalisms.  And  these, 
together  with  dragon  and  sword  of  flame,  keep  watch  and 
ward,  lest  any,  re-entering  the  closed  garden,  may  find, 
and  pluck,  and  eat,  and  know,  and,  knowing,  have  life  in 
himself,  needing  no  assistance  of  priest.  And  so  fierce  and 
vigilant  is  the  watch  kept,  that  only  a  Heracles — or  man 
already  half  divine — can  succeed  in  piercing  or  evading 
the  formidable  phalanx. 

43.  Let  us  suppose  this  done,  and  the  priestly  lines 
safely  passed  and  left  behind.  Traversing  the  broad  belt 
which  divides  these  lines  from  the  wished-for  centre,  the 
seeker  descries  at  length  a  Mounts  towards  the  summit  of 
which  the  sky  appears  to  dip,  so  that  by  the  meeting  of  the 
two  a  junction  is  formed  between  the  earth  and  heaven. 
Thus  does  it  appear  to  the  interior  vision,  with  which,  to 
be  a  successful  follower  of  such  quest,  the  seeker  must  be 
endowed.  That  which  he  finds  on  reaching  the  Mount,  is  a 
community  of  beings,  of  both  sexes,  to  the  ordinary  eyes 
human,  but  to  the  interior  divine  also.  And  the  life  they 
lead— though  outwardly  quiet,  grave,  uneventful,  and,  as 
some  would  deem  it,  even  ascetic — in  reality  throbs  with 
intensest  vitality,  abounds  in  enterprise  the  most  lofty,  and 
brims  with  keenest  satisfaction.  For,  of  this  community 
the  members  are,  of  all  mankind,  the  profoundest  of  intelli- 
gence, widest  of  culture,  ripest  of  experience,  tenderest  of 
heart,  purest  of  soul,  maturest  of  spirit.  They  are  persons 
who — using  life  without  abusing  it,  and  having  no  perverse 
will  to  the  outer — have  learnt  all  that  the  body  has  to  teach, 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  I99 

and  who,  rising  above  earth  by  the  steadfast  subordination 
of  their  lower,  and  exaltation  of  their  higher  nature,  have 
at  length — to  use  their  own  most  ancient  and  significant 
phrase — crucified  in  themselves  the  flesh,  and  thereby 
made  of  their  bodies  instruments,  instead  of  masters,  for 
their  souls,  and  means  of  expression,  instead  of  sources 
of  limitation,  for  their  spirits.  Thus  rising  above  the  earth, 
they  have  drawn  down  heaven  to  meet  them;  and,  like 
the  revolving  rain-cloud  of  tropic  seas,  formed  a  pillar  of 
communication  between  the  spheres  upper  and  nether. 

44.  An  Order,  or  School,  do  these  compose,  whereof  the 
initiates,  while  honouring  the  man  as  the  heir  of  all  things, 
— if  only  he  be  lawfully  begotten  and  be  a  true  child  of  the 
Spirit, — especially  champion  the  woman,  by  exalting  her 
within  themselves  to  share  supremacy  with  the  man,  making 
themselves  at  once  man  and  woman.  For  together  with 
the  intellect,  they  cherish  also  the  intuition,  together  with 
the  head,  the  heart,  and  combining  in  all  things  love  with 
will,  make  it  their  one  object  to  enable  the  substance  of 
their  humanity  to  attain  in  them  the  full  manifestation  of 
its  qualities.  Practisers  as  well  as  preachers  of  the  doctrine 
of  creation  by  development,  and — withheld  by  no  prepos- 
session or  prejudice — fearless  followers  of  thought  to  its 
extremest  spheres  in  every  direction,  they  are  the  earth's 
sole  genuine  evolutionists  and  free-thinkers ;  and  to  them 
alone,  and  those  who,  affiliated  to  them,  know  and  follow 
their  method,  it  is  given,  while  in  the  body,  to  live  the  life 
of  the  spirit ;  to  reach  their  intellectual  manhood  ;  to  com- 
plete the  system  of  their  thought,  and  find  certitude  of 
truth  even  the  highest ;  to  attain  the  supreme  common 
sense  of  all  the  spheres  and  modes  of  being  in  which 
substance  is  wont  to  be  manifested;  and,  in  a  word,  to 
be  taught   of  the  informing  Spirit  Itself  of  the  universal 


THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


humanity,  all  the  mysteries  of  that  kingdom  which,  being 
within,  is  the  counterpart  of  and  sole  key  to  that  which  is 
without. 

45.  Of  all  who  attain  eminence  in  this  School — and  these 
have  been,  and  haply  shall  yet  again  be,  many — the  motive 
is  one  and  the  history  one.  For  the  motive  is  the  love  of 
perfection,  for  the  sake,  not  of  self  only,  but  of  perfection. 
And  this  is  a  goal  which,  pursued  as  these  pursue  it,  con- 
tinues ever  to  rise,  and  draws  the  pursuer  after  it.  And 
the  history  is  that  of  the  souL  For,  as  the  soul  is  one, 
so  also  is  her  history  one. 

46.  From  this  order,  wherever  established,  have  pro- 
ceeded, as  from  a  central  sun,  all  the  light  and  heat  of 
knowledge  and  goodness  which,  distributed  through /<7/V/{//// 
priesthoods,  have  ministered  towards  the  world's  redemp- 
tion from  utter  ignorance  and  barbarism  to  such  degree  of 
humanity  as  it  has  reached.  From  the  germs  of  truth  and 
beauty,  in  doctrine  and  conduct,  idea  and  practice,  thus 
originated,  and  transferred  to  various  soils,  has  sprung  all 
that  the  world  has  of  true  philosophy,  morality,  art,  science, 
civilisation,  religion.  And  in  so  far  as  the  products  have 
been  lacking  in  excellence,  the  fault  has  been  due,  not  to 
the  original  seed,  but  to  the  soil  and  to  the  husband- 
men. 

47.  How  stubborn  that  soil,  and  how  inefficient  or  faith- 
less those  husbandmen,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
rarely,  since  history  began,  has  the  Order  found  in  the 
smallest  degree  the  recognition  and  gratitude  its  due.  But, 
on  the  contrary,  whenever,  m  a  period  of  degradation  so 
extreme  that  humanity  itself  seemed  in  its  death-throe,  and 
instead  of  men  the  earth  bore  monsters, — one  of  its  mem 
bers  has  quitted  his  lo  ed  seclusion  and,  descending  from 
his  own  celestial  "  Mount"  into  the  world  below,  has  sought 


Lect.  VII.]  TEE  FALL.  aoi 

by  conduct  and  precept  to  afford  an  example  of  what 
humanity  has  in  it  to  be, — he  has  by  the  world  he  sought  to 
rescue  been  subjected  to  persecution  and  affront,  and  in  the 
official  guardians  of  the  doctrine  he  represented  and  would 
have  regenerated,  has  found  his  bitterest  foes. 

48.  Long  vanished  from  human  view,  the  Order  has  been 
replaced  by  semblances,  mechanical  merely  and  void  of 
vitality ;  and  for  lack  both  of  the  knowledge  and  of  the 
materials,  incompetent  to  build  up  a  single  specimen  of 
humanity  after  its  perfected  pattern.  Nevertheless  the 
true  order  still  survives,  though  dwindled  in  numbers  and 
no  longer  having  organisation  or  appliance  due  ;  but  as  "  a 
people  scattered  and  peeled,"  lost  tribes  of  a  spiritual  Israel, 
whose  roll  call  is  no  more  on  earth.  Once  known  and 
supremely  honoured  by  the  titles  of  Magi,  Wise  Men,  Kings 
of  the  East,  and  Sons  of  God,  its  initiates  are  now  mis- 
known  and  supremely  contemned  under  the  designation  of 
Mystics.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  uncongenial  climate  and 
evil  entreaty  of  a  civilisation  become  wholly  materialistic, 
these  still  pursue— unknown  for  the  most  part  even  to  each 
otlier — their  ancient  vocation  ;  and  still  is  this,  as  of  old, 
the  Gnosis,  or  Divine  Science.  For  its  subject  is  the  Sub- 
stance of  the  universal  Humanity,  and  its  object  is  the 
attainment  of  personal  perfection. 

49.  Of  all  earthly  Orders,  this,  by  reason  of  its  antiquity, 
its  universality,  its  objects,  and  its  achievements,  is  incom- 
parably the  most  notable,  seeing  that  from  it  have  pro- 
ceeded all  the  world's  true  sages,  saints,  seers,  prophets, 
redeemers,  and  Christs ;  and  through  it  all  divine  revela- 
tion. And  its  doctrine  is  that  one  true  doctrine  of  ex- 
istence, and  therein  of  religion,  which — always  in  the 
world — is  now  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  published  to 
the   world  in   language   comprehensible  by   the  world ; — 


aoa  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

having,  it  is  confidently  believed,  been  recovered  ii?  ^J^i?  way 
in  which  it  was  originally  received. 

Part  IV. 

50.  It  remains  to  speak  of  the  cause  and  manner  of  the 
fall  from  a  level  so  lofty,  from  a  rule  so  beneficent.  The 
truth  is,  that  the  world  fell  only  because  the  Church  fell. 
And  the  Church,  or  collective  soul  of  Humanity,  fell,  as 
does  the  individual  soul,  by  looking  less  and  less  upward 
to  God,  and  more  and  more  downward  to  Matter. 
Cataclysmal  as  the  result  may  appear  when  viewed  in 
the  totality  of  its  efifects  and  from  a  distance  of  time,  the 
declension  was  very  gradual,  and  extended  over  many 
generations.  It  may  thus  be  compared  to  a  diminution  of 
agricultural  produce,  such  as  occurs  through  the  gradual 
impoverishment  of  the  soil.  The  spiritual  possibilities  c/  the 
race  had,  as  it  were,  exhausted  themselves.  Or  it  may  be 
likened  to  a  recession  of  the  tides  of  the  sea,  and  to  th'*  'sea- 
sons of  the  year.  For,  until  finally  united  to  God  by  what, 
mystically,  is  called  the  Divine  Marriage,  man  is  subject  to 
many  fluctuations  and  alternations  in  respect  of  his  spiritual 
condition.  And  instead  of  the  wave  of  his  spiritual  life 
remaining  always  at  high  water,  it  falls  back  to  rise  in 
another  tide, — a  tide,  it  may  be,  as  in  this  case,  to  culminate 
only  after  another  creative  "week  "  of  man's  spiritual  forma- 
tion, of  which  every  "  day  "  should  be  a  "  thousand  years." 
In  the  sense  and  manner  ordinarily  supposed,  mankind 
never  fell.  Its  fall  was  gradual  as  its  rise.  Under  the 
ripening  influence  of  a  vast  wave  of  spiritual  light  and  heat, 
— to  the  production  of  which  man  himself  had  contributed 
his  necessary  quota,  by  voluntary  co-operation  with  the 
Divine  Spirit  working  within   him, — he    attained  the  first 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL.  203 

great  summer  of  his  perfection,  in  the  time  and  manner 
indicated  in  the  parable  of  Eden  and  the  legends  of  the 
Golden  Age.  Upon  the  subsidence  of  this  wave — a  sub- 
sidence due  to  himself — he  fell  from  this  summer  back 
into  the  spiritual  autumn  and  winter  in  which  he  has 
remained  buried  more  or  less  deeply  ever  since.  And  now 
he  is  at  the  lowest  depth  compatible  with  any  retention 
at  all  of  existence.  Another  step  in  the  same  direction 
means  for  Humanity — in  the  mystical  and  true  sense,  and 
that  is  in  every  high  sense — total  extinction. 

51.  As  with  the  Individual,  so  with  the  Race.  The 
path  of  ascent  from  rudimentary  being  is  also  the  path  of 
descent  when,  through  a  perverse  will  to  the  outer,  descent 
occurs.  Man  rose  into  man,  and  attained  the  full  image  of 
God,  through  the  culture  of  the  woman  within  him.  Repre- 
senting his  soul  and  intuition  of  God,  she  was  his  initiator 
into  the  knowledge  of  divine  things.  And  led  by  the  clear 
perceptions  which  are  her  special  gift  when  duly  tended  and 
honoured,  he  learnt  to  shun  idolatry — which  is  the  prefer- 
ence for  the  Form  over  the  Substance — and  bloodshed 
(whether  for  soul  or  body),  and  with  these  whatever  might 
serve  to  obscure  or  distort  his  conceptions  of  the  Divine 
Character.  Thus  exalting  the  woman  on  the  spiritual  and 
intellectual  planes  of  her  manifestation  in  humanity,  he 
exalted  her  also  on  the  planes  social  and  political ;  and 
instead  of  seeing  in  her — as  do  the  fallen  philosophies  and 
sacerdotalisms  of  all  subsequent  ages — a  thing  maimed  and 
defective,  and — however  fair — a  mistake  and  a  blunder  of 
Nature,  to  be  classed  with  criminals,  idiots,  and  children, 
and  yet  to  be  held  responsible  for  all  the  evils  of  existence, 
— he  regarded  her  as  a  later  and  higher  development  upon 
himself,  and  as,  of  the  two,  the  nearer  to  God.  And  richly 
did  she  repay  him  for  the  preference,  so  long  as  it  was 


204  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

accorded  to  her.  For  through  her  he  attained  Paradise. 
But  as,  when  pure  and  uncorrupted,  the  soul  is  man's 
initiator  into  things  divine  ;  so  when,  turning  towards  the 
things  of  sense,  the  soul  loses  her  purity,  she  becomes  his 
initiator  into  things  evil,  and  gives  him  of  the  fruit  of 
forbidden  knowledge,  making  him  a  "  sinner,"  which,  but 
for  the  soul,  he  could  not  be.  For  "  by  the  law  is  the 
knowledge  of  sin,"  and  the  law  is  given  to  the  soul.  The 
Fall,  therefore,  when  at  length  it  came,  came  not  through 
any  individual  person,  woman  or  man,  but  through  the 
fault  of  man,  and  was  due  to  the  fall  of  the  woman  in 
himself.  Following  her  intuition  of  God,  he  had  as- 
cended from  the  material,  through  the  astral  to  the  celestial, 
and  became  made  in  the  "image  of  God."  Following  her 
in  her  fall  into  Matter,  he  descended  by  the  same  way  to 
where  he  now  is,  his  path  being  one  continuous  track  of 
agony,  tears,  and  blood,  due  solely  to  the  suppression  within 
himself  of  the  "  woman." 

52.  At  once  the  cause  and  consequence  of  the  Fall,  the 
manifestation  of  this  suppression  is  always  threefold.  The 
loss  of  the  intuition  means  idolatry,  and  idolatry  means 
murder.  Each  of  these  is  a  condition  of  the  other.  Losing 
his  intuition  of  Spirit,  man  becomes  Materialist,  and  instead 
of  the  spiritual  idea,  v/hich  alone  is  real,  worships  the  visible 
symbol.  That  is,  he  ignores  the  soul  and  exalts  the  body 
of  things.  Exalting  the  body,  he  sacrifices  all  to  the  body, 
and  sheds,  for  iis  gratification,  innocent  blood.  Thus  is  he 
murderer  as  well  as  idolater.  The  woman  in  him  fallinor, 
he  becomes  "Cain,"  a  cultivator  of  "the  fruits  of  the 
ground"  only,  or  lower  nature,  whence  proceeds  all  evil. 
In  other  words,  for  a  doctrine  of  love  he  substitutes  a 
doctrine  of  selfishness.  For  this  is  the  sin  of  which  blood 
shed  is  the  symbol  and  outcome. 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  205 

53.  Since  these  are  the  three  steps  of  his  descent,  to 
reverse  his  practice  in  respect  of  them — in  the  Spirit  as 
well  as  in  the  Letter — will  be  to  reverse  the  Fall,  and  to 
remount  once  more  to  the  celestial.  Already  has  the  move- 
ment begun  in  each  regard.  The  position  of  woman  on 
the  lower  planes  is  being  rapidly  revolutionised,  and  soon 
will  be  so  also  on  the  higher.  Little,  however,  do  most  of 
those  who  are  working  to  that  end  know  what  it  means,  and 
little  will  the  end  coincide  with  their  anticipations.  For 
many  who  in  our  day  are  pretending  to  **  exalt  the  woman  " 
are  doing  so  by  means  subversive  of  her.  And  many  even 
of  the  women  who  are  seeking  to  exalt  themselves,  are  doing 
so  by  the  repression,  rather  than  by  the  promotion,  of  their 
womanhood  ;  and  this,  by  reason,  not  of  their  doing  man's 
work,  but  of  their  doing  it  in  man's  evil  fashion,  leaving  out 
the  woman.  Nevertheless,  the  woman  shall  be  exalted. 
God  will  carry  her  to  His  throne,  and  *'  will  make  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him."  The  outcry,  surely  gathering 
volume  and  strength,  against  the  slaughter  and  torture  of 
our  animal  brethren,  whether  for  use  or  for  pleasure,  is  an- 
other token  of  entrance  upon  the  upward  path.  It  is  not 
at  the  hands  of  those  who  kill  or  eat  them,  that  the  animals 
will  be  permitted  to  accept  their  salvation  from  the  torturer. 
They  who  would  redeem  others  must  first  make  sacrifice 
in  themselves.  When  this  truth  is  understood,  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  animals  will  be  at  hand.  And  in  respect  of 
idolatry  the  prospect  is  even  yet  brighter.  For  the  "  Gospel 
of  Interpretation  "  has  come,  and  the  "  letter  which  killeth" 
is  henceforth  shorn  of  its  strength. 

54.  Do  we  speak  of  signs  ?  What  sign  more  astounding 
could  have  been  imagined  than  the  modern  phenomenon 
known  as  "  Spiritualism  "  ?  Herein  man  has  already  taken 
one   whole  step   upward  towards   the   celestial.      For  in 


2o6  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

"  Spiritualism ''  he  has  quitted  the  exclusively  material, 
and  has  actually  entered  the  astral.  Short  of  the  celestial 
now  he  cannot  stop.  The  very  profundity  of  his  dissatis- 
faction with  his  experiences  of  the  astral,  will  compel  him 
onwards.  To  this  every  "  Spiritualist  "  will  testify.  Back- 
ward man  dare  not  turn,  to  the  merely  material.  For  he  has 
beheld  in  vivisection  the  abyss  which  confronts  him  there, 
and  in  healthy  horror  has  recoiled  from  the  bottomless  pit 
therein  disclosed,  of  the  possibilities  of  his  own  lower 
nature.  In  vivisection  the  human  is  abandoned  for  the 
infernal. 

55.  The  cry,  then,  is  onward,  upward,  inward  to  the 
celestial.  And  happy  will  they  be  who  first  are  uplifted 
thither,  for  they  will  surely  draw  all  men  up  after  them. 
Reversing  the  Fall  and  the  Curse  of  Eve,  they  will  lead  Man 
to  a  new  Golden  Age,  a  new  sabbath  of  Perfection,  and  the 
glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  that  true  City  of  Hygieia, 
which  Cometh  down  from  the  heaven  of  his  own  pure  Ideal. 
Thus  will  the  divine  Virgin  Astrasa — forced  to  quit  earth 
when  the  Golden  Age  was  no  more — fulfil  the  promise  of 
her  return,  bringing  her  progeny  of  divine  sons,  to  redeem 
the  world.^  Thus,  too,  will  Intuition  and  Intellect,  as  a  new 
Esther  and  Mordecai,  once  more  gain  favour  with  the 
world,  and,  redeeming  from  oppression  the  true  Israel,  give 
the  kingdom  to  the  righteous.  Moreover  in  these  faculties, 
thus  restored,  will  the  "  two  "  Apocalyptic  "  Witnesses  "  rise, 
as  from  the  dead,  in  "  the  streets  of  the  great  City,"  and 
"ascending  into  heaven,"  reign  supreme.  And  thus  also 
will  the  dream  of  King  Nebuchadnezzar  find  its  fulfilment, 
and  the  Golden  Image  its  destruction.     For  the  Image  is 

*  Jam  redit  et  Virgo,  redeunt  Saturnia  regna, 
Jam  nova  progenies  cckIo  dimittitur  alto. 

Virgil,  Eclog.  IV. 


Lect.  VII.]  THE  FALL,  207 

the  symbol  of  a  civilisation  whose  head — or  intellect— is 
golden,  but  whose  body  is  of  silver  mixed  with  brass, 
and  whose  legs  and  feet  are  iron  and  clay  ; — that  is,  which 
rests  on  Force  and  Matter.  And  the  Stone,  hewn  with- 
out hands,  which  destroys  it,  is  the  Understanding,  mani- 
fested in  a  new  Word  or  Gospel  of  Interpretation,  which, 
smiting  the  monster  mis-called  Civilisation,  shall  "  scatter 
in  pieces  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the 
gold,  and  make  them  as  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing- 
floor."  But  the  "  Stone"  by  which  the  Image  is  destroyed 
shall  "  become  a  great  mountain,  and  fill  the  whole  earth." 
Becoming  the  "  head  corner  stone,"  by  it  the  Great  Pyramid 
of  the  standard  Humanity  shall  be  completed. 


LECTURE  THE   EIGHTH. 

THE  REDEMPTION. 

Part  I. 

I.  That,  then,  which,  mystically,  is  called  the  Fall  of  Man, 
does  not  mean,  as  commonly  supposed,  the  lapse,  through 
a  specific  act,  of  particular  individuals  from  a  state  of 
original  perfection  ;  nor,  as  sometimes  supposed,  a  change 
from  a  fluidic  to  a  material  condition.  It  means  such  an 
inversion  of  the  due  relations  between  the  soul  and  the 
body  of  a  personality  already  both  spiritual  and  material, 
as  involves  a  transference  of  the  central  will  of  the  system 
concerned,  from  the  soul — which  is  its  proper  seat — to  the 
body,  and  the  consequent  subjection  of  the  soul  to  the 
body,  and  liability  of  the  individual  to  sin,  disease,  and 
all  other  evils  which  result  from  the  limitations  of  Matter. 

2.  That,  therefore,  which,  mystically,  is  called  the  Re- 
demption, and  which  is  the  converse  of  the  Fall,  does  not 
mean,  as  commonly  supposed,  the  remission,  or  transference 
from  the  guilty  to  the  innocent,  of  tiie  penalties  incurred 
through  the  Fall.  No  penalty  incurred  by  man  ever  is  or 
can  be  remitted  by  God,  since  the  Divine  Justice  is  just. 
Nor,  for  the  same  reason,  can  it  be  borne  by  another,  since 
a  substitution  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty  would  in  it- 
self be  a  violation  of  justice.  Wherefore  the  doctrine  of 
Vicarious  Redemption,  as  ordinarily  accepted,  represents 
a  total   misconception  of  the  truth,  and   one  derogatory  to 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION,  209 

the  Divine  Character.  The  Redemption  means  such  re- 
moval of  the  will  of  the  individual  system  concerned,  from 
the  body,  and  reinstatement  of  it  in  the  soul,  as  thence- 
forth to  secure  to  the  soul  full  control  over  the  body,  and 
to  exempt  the  individual  from  further  liability  to  trans- 
gression. He  who  is  redeemed  cannot  sin,  that  is,  mor- 
tally. 

3.  It  is  according  to  the  Divine  order  of  Nature  that  the 
soul  should  control  the  body.  For,  as  a  manifested  entity, 
man  is  a  dual  being,  consisting  of  soul  and  body ;  and  of 
these,  in  point  both  of  duration  and  function,  and  therefore 
in  all  respects  of  value,  the  precedence  belongs  to  the  soul. 
For  the  soul  is  the  real,  permanent  Individual,  the  Self, 
the  everlasting,  substantial  Idea,  of  which  the  body  is  but 
the  temporary  residence  and  phenomenal  expression.  The 
soul,  nevertheless,  has,  properly  speaking,  no  will  of  her 
own,  since  she  is  feminine  and  negative.  And  she  is 
therefore,  by  her  nature,  bound  to  obey  the  will  of  some 
other  than  herself  This  other  can  be  only  the  Spirit  or 
the  Body ; — the  Within  and  the  Above,  which  is  Divine, 
and  is  God ;  or  the  Without  and  the  Below,  which,  taken 
by  irself  and  reduced  to  its  last  expression,  is  the  "  devil." 
It  is,  therefore,  to  the  Spirit  and  soul  as  one,  that  obedi- 
ence is  due.  Hence,  in  making  the  body  the  seat  of  the 
will,  the  man  revolts,  not  merely  against  the  soul,  but 
against  God  ;  and  the  soul,  by  participation,  does  the  same. 
Of  such  revolt  the  consequence  is  disease  and  misery  of 
both  soul  and  body,  with  the  liability,  ultimately,  to  extinc- 
tion of  the  soul  as  well  as  of  the  body.  For  the  soul  which 
persistently  rejects  the  Divine  Will  in  favour  of  the  bodily 
will,  sins  mortally,  and,  becoming  mortal,  at  length  dies 
For  her  life  is  withdrawn  and  her  constituents  are  scattered 
to  the  elements ;  so  that,  without  any  actual  loss  either  of 

P 


2IO  TFIE  PERFECT   WAY. 

the  Life  or  of  the  Substance  of  the  universal  existence,  the 
individuality  constituted  of  them  perishes.  The  "man"  is 
no  more.     "  He  that  gathereth  not  with  Me,  scattereth." 

4.  The  result,  on  the  oth.^r  hand,  of  the  soul's  steadfast 
aspiration  towards  God, — the  Spirit,  that  is,  within  her, — 
and  of  her  consequent  action  u]")on  the  body,  is  that  this  also 
becomes  so  permeated  and  s  iffused  by  the  Spirit  as,  at  last, 
to  have  no  will  of  its  own,  but  to  be  in  all  things  one  with 
its  soul  and  Spirit,  and  to  constitute  with  these  one  perfectly 
harmonious  system,  of  which  every  element  is  under  full 
control  of  the  central  Will.  It  is  this  unification,  occurring 
within  the  individual,  which  constitutes  the  Atonement. 
And  in  him  in  whom  it  occurs  in  its  fullest  extent.  Nature 
reahses  the  ideal  to  attain  \'\hich  she  first  came  forth  from 
God.  For  in  the  man  thus  redeemed,  purified,  and  perfected 
in  the  image  of  God,  and  having  in  himself  the  power  of 
life  eternal,  she  herself  is  vindicated  and  glorified,  and  the 
Divine  Wisdom  is  justified  of  her  children.  The  process, 
however,  is  one  which  each  individual  must  accomplish  in 
and  for  himself.  For,  being  an  interior  process,  consisting 
in  self-purification,  it  cannot  be  performed  from  without. 
That  whereby  perfection  is  attained  is  experience,  which 
impHes  suftering.  For  this  reason  the  man  who  is  reborn 
in  us  of  "  Water  and  the  Spirit," — our  own  regenerate  Self, 
the  Christ  Jesus  and  Son  of  Man,  who  in  saving  us  is  called 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation, — is  said  to  be  made  perfect 
through  suffering.  This  suffering  must  be  borne  by  each 
man  for  himself.  To  deprive  any  one  of  it  by  putting  die 
consequences  of  his  acts  upon  another,  so  far  from  aiding 
that  one,  would  be  to  deprive  him  of  his  means  of  redemp- 
tion. 

5.  There  are  two  senses  in  which  the  term  Fall  is  used, 
each  of  them  having  relation  to  an  indispensable  epoch  in 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  iu 

the  process  of  the  universe.  The  one  is  the  fall  of  Spirit, 
the  other  of  the  soul.  The  first  occurs  in  the  universal, 
and  concerns  the  Macrocosm.  The  second  occurs  in  the 
individual,  and  concerns  the  Microcosm.  The  first  and 
general  descent  of  Spirit  into  Matter  consists  in  that  original 
projection  of  the  Divine  Substance  from  pure  Being  into 
the  condition  of  Existence,  whereby  Spirit  becomes  Matter, 
and  Creation  occurs.  The  doctrine  which  regards  the 
universe  as  the  Thouglit  of  God,  is  a  true  doctrine.  But 
the  universe  is  not  therefore  unsubstantial.  God  is  real 
Being,  and  that  which  God  thinks  is  also  God.  Wherefore, 
in  consisting  of  the  thought  of  the  Divine  Mind,  the  Universe 
consists  of  the  Substance  of  that  Mind,  the  Substance,  that  is, 
of  God.  God's  Ideas,  like  God,  are  real  beings.  Divine  Per- 
sonages, that  is,  Gods.  Put  forth  by,  and,  in  a  sense  divided 
from,  God,  in  order  to  accomplish  God's  purposes,  these  hQ- 
comQ  ?7iessengers oi  God,  that  is,  Angels.  And,  of  them,  those  to 
whom  is  assigned  a  condition  below  that  of  God — a  condition 
no  longer  of  Spirit — are  called  "Fallen  Angels."  Wherefore 
the  "Fall  of  the  Angels"  denotes  simply  the  original  and 
kosmic  descent  of  Spirit  into  the  condition  of  Matter, — the 
precipitation,  that  is,  of  the  Divine  Substance  from  a  state 
of  pure  Being,  into  the  various  elenients  and  modes  which 
are  comprised  in  and  which  constitute  Existence  or  Creation. 
Creation  is  thus,  not,  as  ordinarily  supposed,  a  making  out  of 
that  which  is  not,  but  a  manifestation  or  putting  forth — by 
the  conversion  of  essence  into  things— of  that  which  already 
is,  but  which  subsists  unmanifest.  It  is  true,  that  prior  to 
such  manifestation,  there  is  no  thing.  But  this  is  not  because 
there  is  nothing;  but  because  before  things  can  exist,  the 
ideas  of  them  must  subsist.  F  ^r  a  thing  is  the  result  of  an 
idea,  and  except  as  such  cannot  exist.  Thus,  Matter,  as 
the  intensification,  or  densificj;  tion,  of  Idea,  is  a  mode  of 


112  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

the  Divine  consciousness,  put  forth  through  an  exercise  of 
the  Divine  Will ;  and  being  so,  it  is  capable,  through  an 
exercise  of  the  Divine  Love,  of  reverting  to  its  original, 
unmanifest  condition  of  Spirit.  The  recall  of  the  universe 
to  this  condition  constitutes  the  final  Redemption  or 
"Restitution  of  all  things."  And  it  is  brought  about  by 
the  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  within  the  whole. 

6.  The  Redemption  from  the  other  of  the  two  Falls 
specified,  is  due  to  the  operation  of  the  divine  element 
within  the  individual.  And  it  is  of  this  alone  that  we  pro- 
pose to  treat  on  this  occasion.  As  already  stated,  this  Fall 
does  not  consist  in  the  original  investment  of  the  soul  with 
a  material  body.  Such  investment — or  incaimation — is  an 
integral  and  indispensable  element  in  the  process  of  the 
individuation  of  soul-substance,  and  of  its  education  into 
humanity.  And  until  perfected,  or  nearly  so,  the  body  is 
necessary  to  the  soul  in  turn  as  nursery,  school,  house  of 
correction,  and  chamber  of  ordeal.  It  is  true  that  redemp- 
tion involves  deliverance  from  the  need  of  the  body.  But 
redemption  itself  is  from  the  power  of  the  body;  and  it  is 
from  its  fall  under  the  power  of  the  body  that  the  soul  requires 
redemption.  For  it  is  this  fall  which,  by  involving  the 
alienation  of  the  individual  from  God,  renders  necessary  a 
reconciliation  or  at-one-ment.  And  inasmuch  as  this  can 
be  effected  only  through  the  total  renunciation  of  the  ex- 
terior or  bodily  will,  and  the  unreserved  acceptance  in  its 
place  of  the  interior  or  divine  will,  this  at-one-ment  con- 
stitutes the  essential  element  of  that  Redemption  which 
forms  the  subject  of  the  present  discourse. 

7.  Although  Redemption,  as  a  whole,  is  one,  the  process 
is  manifold,  and  consists  in  a  series  of  acts,  spiritual  and 
mental.  Of  this  series,  the  part  wherein  the  individual 
finally  surrenders  his  own  exterior  will,  with  all  its  exclu- 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  213 

lively  material  desires  and  affections,  is  designated  the 
Passion.  And  the  particular  act  whereby  this  surrender  is 
consummated  and  demonstrated,  is  called  the  Crucifixion. 
This  crucifixion  means  a  complete,  unreserving  surrender, — 
to  the  death,  if  need  be, —  without  opposition,  even  in  de- 
sire, on  the  part  of  the  natural  man.  Without  these  steps 
is  no  atonement  The  man  cannot  become  one  with  the 
Spirit  within  him,  until  by  his  "  Passion  "  and  "  Crucifixion," 
he  has  utterly  vanquished  the  "old  Adam"  of  his  former 
self.  Through  the  atonement  made  by  means  of  this  self- 
sacrifice  he  becomes  as  one  without  sin,  being  no  more 
liable  to  sin ;  and  is  qualified  to  enter,  as  his  own  high- 
priest,  into  the  holy  of  holies  of  his  own  innermost.  For 
thus  he  has  become  of  those  who,  being  pure  in  heart, 
alone  can  face  God. 

8.  The  "Passion"  and  "Crucifixion"  have  their  im- 
mediate sequel  in  the  Death  and  Burial  of  the  Self  thus 
renounced.  And  these  are  followed  by  the  Resurrection 
and  Ascension  of  the  true  immortal  Man  and  new  spiritual 
Adam,  who  by  his  Resurrection  proves  himself  to  be — 
like  the  Christ — "  virgin-born,"  in  that  he  is  the  offspring, 
not  of  the  soul  and  her  traffic  with  Matter  and  Sense,  but 
of  the  soul  become  "immaculate,"  and  of  her  spouse,  the 
Spirit.  The  Ascension,  with  which  the  D.  ama  terminates, 
is  that  of  the  whole  Man,  now  regenerate,  to  his  own  celes- 
tial kingdom  within  himself,  where — made  one  with  the 
Spirit — he  takes  his  seat  for  ever  "  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father." 

9.  Although  the  Resurrection  of  the  man  regenerate  has 
a  twofold  relation,  in  that  it  sometimes  atfects  the  body, 
the  resurrection  is  not  of  the  body  in  any  sense  ordinarily 
supposed,  nor  is  the  body  in  any  way  the  object  of  the  pro- 
cess.    The  Man,  it  is  true,  has  risen  from  the  dead.     But 


214  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

it  is  from  the  condition  of  deadness  in  regard  to  things 
spiritual,  and  from  among  those  who,  being  in  that  condition, 
are  said  to  be  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  In  these  two 
resi)ects,  namely,  as  regards  his  own  past  self  and  the  world 
generally,  he  has  "  risen  from  the  dead ; "  and  "  death,"  of 
this  kind,  "  has  no  more  dominion  over  him."  And  even 
if  he  have  redeemed  also  his  body  and  made  of  it  a  risen 
body,  this  by  no  means  implies  the  resuscitation  of  an 
actual  corpse.  In  this  sense  there  has  been  for  him  no 
death,  and  in  this  sense  there  is  for  him  no  resurrection, 
It  was  through  misapprehension  of  the  true  doctrine,  and 
the  consequent  expectation  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
body,  that  the  practice — originally  symbolical  and  special 
— of  embalming  the  corpse  as  a  mummy,  became  common, 
and  that  interment  was  substituted  for  the  classic  and  far 
more  wholesome  practice  of  cremation.  In  both  cases,  the 
object  was  the  delusive  one  of  facilitating  a  resuscitation  at 
once  impossible  and  undesirable,  seeing  that  if  reincarnation 
be  needful,  a  soul  can  always  obtain  for  itself  a  new  body. 

lo.  That  which  constitutes  the  Great  Work  is  not  the 
resuscitation  of  the  dead  body,  but  the  redemption  of 
Spirit  from  Matter.  Until  man  commits  what,  mystically, 
is  called  idolatry,  he  has  no  need  of  such  redemption.  So 
long  as  he  prefers  the  inner  to  the  outer,  and  consequently 
polarises  towards  God,  the  will  of  his  soul  is  as  the  Divine 
Will,  and  she  has,  in  virtue  thereof,  power  over  his  body, 
as  God  has  over  the  universe.  Committing  idolatry,  by 
reason  of  perverse  will  to  the  outer, — looking  back,  and 
down,  that  is,  and  preferring  the  form  to  the  substance, 
the  appearance  to  the  reality,  the  phenomenon  to  the  idea, 
the  "city  of  the  Plain"  to  the  "mount  of  the  Lord," — she 
loses  this  power,  and  becomes  a  "  pillar  of  salt,"  material 
and  patent  to  sense,  and,  hence,  "  naked."     The  "  resurrec- 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION,  215 

tion  body"  is  altogether  sublime,  being  woven  for  herself  by 
the  ascended  soul  out  of  elements  transcending  aught  the 
physical  corpse  can  yield;  for  it  is  her  own  "unfallen" 
substance.     It  is  not  a  body  raised^  but  a  raised  body. 


Part  II. 

II.  In  order  to  obtain  an  adequate  conception  of  the 
vastness  of  the  interval  between  the  conditions  of  man 
**  fallen  "  and  man  *'  redeemed,"  it  will  be  necessary  to  speak 
yet  more  particularly  of  the  man  perfected  and  having 
power.  Thus  contrasted,  the  heights  and  depths  of  hu- 
manity will  appear  in  their  true  extent.  It  is  but  a  sketch, 
comparatively  slight,  which  can  here  be  given  of  what  they 
must  endure,  who,  for  love  of  God,  desire  God,  and  who 
by  love  of  God,  finally  attain  to  and  become  God ;  and 
who,  becoming  God  without  ceasing  to  be  man,  become 
God-Man, — God  manifest  in  the  flesh, — at  once  God  and 
Man.  The  course  to  this  end  is  one  and  the  same  for  all, 
whenever,  wherever,  and  by  whomsoever  followed.  For 
perfection  is  one,  and  all  seekers  after  it  must  follow  the 
same  road.  The  reward,  and  the  means  towards  it,  are  also 
one.  For  "the  Gift  of  God  is  eternal  Life."  And  it  is  by 
means  of  God, — the  Divine  Spirit  working  within  him,  to 
build  him  up  in  the  Divine  Image, — he,  meanwhile  co- 
operating with  the  Spirit, — that  man  achieves  Divinity.  In 
the  familiar,  but  rarely  understood  terms,  **  Philosopher's 
Stone,"  "  Elixir  of  Life,"  *'  universal  Medicine,"  "  holy 
Grail,"  and  the  like,  is  impliod  this  supreme  object  of  all 
quest.  For  these  are  but  terms  to  denote  pure  Spirit,  and 
its  essential  correlative,  a  Will  absolutely  firm  and  inaccess- 
ible alike  to  weakness  from  wi;;hin  and  assault  from  without. 
Without  a  measure  of  this  Spirit  is  no  understanding — and 


2i6  THE  PERFECT    WAY. 

therefore  no  interpretation — of  the  Sacred  Mysteries  of  Ex- 
istence. Spiritual  themselves,  they  can  be  comprehended 
only  by  those  who  have,  nay,  rather,  who  are  Spirit ;  for 
God  is  Spirit,  and  they  who  worship  God  must  worship  in 
the  Spirit. 

12.  The  attainment  in  himself  of  a  pure  and  divine 
Spirit,  is,  therefore,  the  first  object  and  last  achievement  of 
him  who  seeks  to  realise  the  loftiest  ideal  of  which  humanity 
is  capable.  He  who  does  this  is  not  an  '*  Adept  "  merely. 
The  "  Adept  "  covets  power  in  order  to  save  himself  only  ; 
and  knowledge  is  for  him  a  thing  apart  from  love.  Love 
saves  others  as  well  as  oneself.  And  it  is  love  that  dis- 
tinguishes the  Christ; — a  truth  implied,  among  other  ways, 
in  the  name  and  character  assigned  in  mystic  legends  to 
the  favourite  disciple  of  the  Christs.  To  Krishna,  his 
Arjun  ;  to  Buddha,  his  Ana7ida  ;  to  Jesus,  his  John  ; — all 
terms  identical  in  meaning,  and  denoting  the  feminine  and 
tender  moiety  of  the  Divine  Nature.  He  therefore,  and  he 
alone,  who  possesses  this  spirit  in  quality  and  quantity  with- 
out measure,  has,  and  is,  "Christ."  He  is  God's  Anointed, 
suffused  and  brimming  with  the  Spirit,  and  having  in  virtue 
thereof  the  power  of  the  "  Dissolvent  "  and  of  "  Transmu- 
tation," in  respect  of  the  whole  man.  Herein  lay  the  grand 
secret  of  that  philosophy  which  made  "  Hermes  "  to  be 
accounted  the  "  trainer  of  the  Christs."  Known  as  the 
Kabbalistic  philosophy,  it  was  a  philosophy — or  rather  a 
science — based  upon  the  recognition  in  Nature  of  a  uni- 
versal Substance,  which  man  can  find  and  "  effect,"  and  in 
virtue  of  which  he  contains  within  himself  the  seed  of  his 
own  regeneration,  a  seed  of  which — duly  cultured — the  fruit 
is  God,  because  the  seed  itself  also  is  God.  Wherefore,  the 
"  Hermetic  science  "  is  the  science  of  God. 

13.  "Christ,"   then,  is,   primarily,   not   a   person,  but  a 


Lect.  VIIL]  the  redemption,  ai7 

principle,  a  process,  a  system  of  life  and  thought,  by  the 
observance  of  which  man  becomes  purified  from  Matter, 
and  transmuted  into  Spirit.  And  he  is  a  Christ  who,  in 
virtue  of  his  observance  of  this  process  to  its  utmost  extent 
while  yet  in  the  body,  constitutes  a  full  manifestation  of  the 
qualities  of  Spirit.  Thus  manifested,  he  is  said  to  "destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil,"  for  he  destroys  that  which  gives 
pre-eminence  to  Matter,  and  so  re-estabhshes  the  kingdom 
of  Spirit,  that  is,  of  God. 

14.  This,  the  interior  part  of  the  process  of  the  Christ,  is 
the  essential  part.  Whether  first  or  last,  the  spiritual  being 
must  be  perfected.  Without  this  interior  perfection,  nothing 
that  is  done  in  the  body,  or  exterior  man,  is  of  any  avail, 
save  only  in  so  far  as  it  may  minister  to  the  essential  end. 
The  body  is  but  an  instrument,  existing  for  the  use  and  sake 
of  the  soul,  and  not  for  itself.  And  it  is  for  the  soul,  and 
not  for  itself,  that  it  must  be  perfected.  Being  but  an 
instrument,  the  body  cannot  be  an  end.  That  which  makes 
the  body  an  end,  ends  with  the  body ;  and  the  end  of  the 
body  is  corruption.  Whatever  is  given  to  the  body  is  taken 
from  the  Spirit  From  this  it  will  be  seen  what  is  the  true 
value  of  Asceticism.  Divested  of  its  rational  and  spiritual 
motive,. self-denial  is  worthless.  Rather  is  it  worse  than 
worthless ;  it  is  materialistic  and  idolatrous ;  and,  being  in 
this  aspect  a  churlish  refusal  of  God's  good  gifts,  it  impugns 
the  bounteousness  of  the  Divine  nature.  The  aim  of  all 
endeavour  should  be  to  bring  the  body  into  subjection  to, 
and  harmony  with,  the  spirit,  by  refining  and  subliming  it, 
and  so  heightening  its  powers  as  to  make  it  sensitive  and 
responsive  to  all  the  motions  of  the  Spirit.  This  it  can 
be  only  when,  deriving  its  sustenance  from  substances  the 
purest  and  most  highly  solarised,  such  as  the  vegetable 
kingdom   alone   affords,    it   suffers  all  its  molecules  to  be- 


2i8  THE  PERFECT   WAY. 

come  polarised  in  one  and  the  same  direction,  and  this 
the  direction  of  the  central  Will  of  the  system,  the  ''Lord 
God  of  Hosts  "  of  the  Microcosmic  Man, — Whose  mystic 
name  is  Adonai. 

15.  The  reason  of  this  becomes  obvious  when  it  is 
understood  that  the  Ciirists  are,  above  all  things,  Media, 
But  this  not  as  ordinarily  supposed,  even  by  many  who 
are  devoted  students  of  spiritual  science.  For,  so  far  from 
suffering  his  own  vivifying  spirit  to  step  aside  in  order  that 
another  may  enter,  the  Christ  is  one  who  so  develops,  puri- 
fies, and  in  every  way  perfects  his  spirit,  as  to  assimilate 
and  make  it  one  with  the  universal  Spirit,  the  God  of  the 
Macrocosm,  so  that  the  God  without  and  the  God  within 
may  freely  combine  and  mingle,  making  the  universal  the 
individual,  the  individual  the  universal.  Thus  inspired  and 
filled  with  God,  the  soul  kindles  into  flame;  and  God, 
identified  with  the  man,  speaks  through  him,  making  the 
man  utter  himself  in  the  name  of  God. 

16.  It  is  in  his  office  and  character  as  Christ,  and  not 
in  his  own  human  individuality,  that  the  Man  Regenerate 
proclaims  himself  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,"  "  the 
door,"  and  the  hke.  For,  in  being,  as  has  been  said,  the 
connecting  link  between  the  creature  and  God,  the  Christ 
truly  represents  the  door  or  gate  through  which  all  ascend- 
ing souls  must  pass  to  union  with  the  Divine  ;  and  save 
through  which  "no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father."  Jt  is 
not,  therefore,  in  virtue  of  an  extraneous,  obsessing  spirit 
that  the  Christ  can  be  termed  a  "  Medium,"  but  in  virtue  of 
the  spirit  itself  of  the  man,  become  Divine  by  means  of  that 
inward  purification  by  the  life  or  ''  blood  "  of  God,  which 
is  the  secret  of  the  Christs,  and  "  doubled  "  by  union  with 
the  parent  Spirit  of  all,— the  "Father"  of  all  spirits.  This 
Spirit   it  is   Whom   the   typical   Regenerate   Man  of  the 


Lect.  VIII  ]  THE  REDEMPTION,  219 

Gospels  is  represented  as  calling  the  "  Father."  It  is  the 
Uninanifest  God,  of  Whom  the  Christ  is  the  full  manifes- 
tation. 

17.  Hence  he  disavows  for  himself  the  authorship  of  his 
utterances,  and  says,  "  The  words  which  I  speak  unto  you 
I  speak  not  of  myself.  The  Father  which  dwelleth  in  me, 
He  doelh  the  works."  The  Christ  is,  thus,  a  clear  glass 
through  which  the  divine  glory  shines.  As  it  is  written  of 
Jesus,  "  And  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  Only 
Begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  Now,  this 
"  Only  Begotten  "  is  not  mortal  man  at  all,  but  He  Who 
from  all  eternity  has  been  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father, 
namely,  the  Word  or  Logos^  the  Speaker,  the  Maker,  the 
Manifestor,  He  Whose  mystic  name,  as  already  said,  is 
Adonai^  and  of  whom  Christ  is  the  counterpart. 

18.  To  attain  to  the  perfection  of  the  Christ, — to  polarise, 
that  is,  the  Divine  Spirit  without  measure,  and  to  become 
a  "Man  of  Power"  and  a  Medium  for  the  Highest, — 
though  open  potentially  to  all, — is,  actually  and  in  the 
present,  open,  if  to  any,  but  to  few.  And  these  are,  neces- 
sarily, they  only  who,  having  passed  through  many  trans- 
migrations and  advanced  far  on  their  way  towards  maturity, 
have  sedulously  turned  their  lives  to  the  best  account  by 
means  of  the  steadfast  development  of  all  the  higher 
faculties  and  qualities  of  man  ;  and  who,  while  not  declin- 
ing the  experiences  of  the  body,  have  made  the  spirit,  and 
not  the  body,  their  object  and  aim.  Aspiring  to  the  re- 
demption in  himself  of  each  plane  of  man's  fourfold  nature, 
the  candidate  for  Chrislhood  submits  himself  to  discipline 
and  training  the  most  severe,  at  once  physical,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  spiritual,  and  rejects  as  valueless  or  pernicious 
whatever  would  fail  to  minister  to  his  one  end,  deeming  no 
task  too  onerous,  no  sacrifice  too  painful,  so  that  he  be 


THE  PERFECT  WAY. 


spiritually  advanced  thereby.  And  how  varied  soever  the 
means,  there  is  one  rule  to  which  he  remains  constant 
throughout,  the  rule,  namely,  of  love.  The  Christ  he 
seeks  is  the  pathway  to  God ;  and  to  fail,  in  the  least 
degree  in  respect  of  love,  would  be  to  put  himself  back  in 
his  journey.  The  sacrifices,  therefore,  in  the  incense  of 
which  his  soul  ascends,  are  those  of  his  own  lower  nature  to 
his  own  higher,  and  of  himself  for  others.  And  life  itself, 
it  seems  to  him,  would  be  too  dearly  bought,  if  purchased 
at  the  expense  of  another,  however  little  or  mean, — unless, 
indeed,  of  a  kind  irremediably  noxious,  whose  extinction 
would  benefit  the  world.  For — be  it  remembered — though 
always  Saviour,  the  Christ  is  sometimes  also  Purifier,  as 
were  all  his  types,  the  Heroes — or  Men  Regenerate — of 
classic  story.  Enacting,  thus,  when  necessary  the  execu- 
tioner's part,  he  slays  for  no  self-gratification,  but  "  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord." 

19.  They  who  have  trod  this  path  of  old  have  been 
many,  and  their  deeds  have  formed  the  theme  of  mystical 
legends  innumerable.  Epitomising  these  we  find  that  the 
chief  qualifications  are  as  follows.  In  order  to  gain 
"  Power  and  the  Resurrection,"  a  man  must,  first  of  all,  be 
a  Hierarch.  This  is  to  say,  he  must  have  aitained  the 
magical  age  of  thirty-three  years,  having  been,  in  the  mystic 
sense  of  the  terms,  immaculately  conceived,  and  born  of 
a  king's  daughter;  baptised  with  water  and  with  fire; 
tempted  in  the  wilderness,  crucified  and  buried,  having 
borne  five  wounds  on  the  cross.  He  must,  moreover,  have 
answered  the  riddle  of  the  Sphinx.  To  attain  the  requisite 
age,  he  must  have  accomplished  the  Twelve  Labours  syra- 
bolised  in  those  of  Heracles  and  in  the  signs  of  the  Zodiac; 
passed  within  the  Twelve  Gates  of  the  Holy  City  of  his 
own   regenerate  nature ;    overcome   the   five  Senses ;   and 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  221 

obtained  dominion  over  the  Four  Elements.  Achieving 
all  that  is  implied  in  these  terms,  "his  warfare  is  accom- 
plished," he  is  free  of  Matter,  and  will  never  again  have  a 
phenomenal  body. 

20.  He  who  shall  attain  to  this  perfection  must  be  one 
who  is  without  fear  and  without  desire,  save  towards  God ; 
who  has  courage  to  be  absolutely  poor  and  absolutely 
chaste ;  to  whom  it  is  all  one  whether  he  have  money  or 
whether  he  have  none,  whether  he  have  house  and  lands 
or  whether  he  be  homeless,  whether  he  have  worldly  re- 
putation or  whether  he  be  an  outcast.  Thus  is  he  volun- 
tarily poor,  and  of  the  spirit  of  those  of  whom  it  is  said 
that  they  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  he  have  nothing ;  it  is  necessary  only  that  he  care 
for  nothing.  Against  attacks  and  influences  of  whatever 
kind,  and  coming  from  whatever  quarter  without  his  own 
soul's  kingdom,  he  must  impregnably  steel  himself.  If 
infortune  be  his,  he  must  make  it  his  fortune;  if  poverty, 
he  must  make  it  his  riches ;  if  loss,  his  gain ;  if  sickness,  his 
health;  if  pain,  his  pleasure.  Evil  report  must  be  to  him 
good  report;  and  he  must  be  able  to  rejoice  when  all  men 
speak  ill  of  him.  Even  death  itself  he  must  account  as  life. 
Only  when  he  has  attained  this  equilibrium  is  he  "  Free." 
Meanwhile  he  makes  Abstinence,  Prayer,  Meditation, 
Watchfulness  and  Self-restraint  to  be  the  decades  of  his 
Rosary.  And  knowing  that  nothing  is  gained  without  toil, 
or  won  without  suffering,  he  acts  ever  on  the  principle  that 
to  labour  is  to  pray,  to  ask  is  to  receive,  to  knock  is  to  have 
the  door  open,  and  so  strives  accordingly. 

21.  To  gain  power  over  Death,  there  must  be  self-denial 
and  governance.  Such  is  the  "  Excellent  Way,"  though  it 
be  the  Via  Dolorosa,  He  only  can  follow  it  who  accounts 
the  Resurrection  worth   the    Passion,  the    Kingdom  worth 


222  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  Obedience,  the  Power  worth  the  Suffering.     And  he, 
and  he  only,  does  not  hesitate,  whose  time  has  come. 

22.  The  last  of  the  "  Twelve  Labours  of  Heracles  "  is 
the  conquest  of  the  three-headed  dog,  Cerberus.  For  by 
this  is  denoted  the  final  victory  over  the  body  with  its  three 
(true)  senses.  When  this  is  accomplished,  the  process  of 
ordeal  is  no  longer  necessary.  The  Initiate  is  under  a  vow. 
The  Hierarch  is  free.  He  has  undergone  all  his  ordeals, 
and  has  freed  his  will.  For  the  object  of  the  Trial  and  the 
Vow  is  Polarisation.  When  the  Fixed  is  Volatilised,  the 
Magian  is  Free.     Before  this,  he  is  "  subject." 

23.  The  man  who  seeks  to  be  a  Hierarch  must  not  dwell 
in  cities.  He  may  begin  his  initiation  in  a  city,  but  he 
cannot  complete  it  there.  For  he  must  not  breathe  dead 
and  burnt  air, — air,  that  is,  the  vitality  of  which  is  quenched. 
He  must  be  a  wanderer,  a  dweller  in  the  plain  and  the 
garden  and  the  mountains.  He  must  commune  with  the 
starry  heavens,  and  maintain  direct  contact  with  the  great 
electric  currents  of  living  air  and  with  the  unpaved  grass 
and  earth  of  the  planet,  going  bare-foot  and  oft  bathing  his 
feet.  It  is  in  unfrequented  places,  in  lands  such  as  are 
mystically  called  the  "East,"  where  the  abominations  of 
"  Babylon  "  are  unknown,  and  where  the  magnetic  chain 
between  earth  and  heaven  is  strong,  that  the  man  who 
seeks  Power,  and  who  would  achieve  the  **  Great  Work," 
must  accomplish  his  initiation. 

Part  HI. 

24.  In  assigning  to  the  Gospels  their  proper  meaning,  it 
is  necessary  to  remember  that,  as  mystical  Scriptures,  they 
deal,  primarily,  not  with  material  things  or  persons,  but 
with  spiritual  significations.     Like  the  "  books  of  Moses," 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION,  223 

therefore,  and  others,  which,  iu  being  mystical,  are,  in  the 
strictest  sense,  prophetical,  the  Gospels  are  addressed,  not 
to  the  outer  sense  and  reason,  but  to  the  soul.  And,  being 
thus,  their  object  is,  not  to  give  an  historical  account  of 
the  physical  life  of  any  man  whatever,  but  to  exhibit  the 
spiritual  possibilities  of  humanity  at  large,  as  illustrated  in 
a  particular  and  typical  example.  The  design  is,  thus,  that 
which  is  dictated  by  the  nature  itself  of  Religion.  For 
Religion  is  not  in  its  nature  historical  and  dependent  upon 
actual,  sensible  events,  but  consists  in  processes,  such  as 
Faith  and  Redemption,  which,  being  interior  to  all  men, 
subsist  irrespectively  of  what  any  particular  man  has  at  any 
time  suffered  or  done.  That  alone  which  is  of  importance, 
is  what  God  has  revealed.  And  therefore  it  is  that  the 
narratives  concerning  Jesus  are  rather  parables  founded  on 
a  collection  of  histories,  than  any  one  actual  history,  and 
have  a  spiritual  import  capable  of  universal  application. 
And  it  is  with  this  spiritual  import,  and  not  with  physical 
facts,  that  the  Gospels  are  concerned. 

25.  Such  were  the  principles  which,  long  before  the 
Christian  era,  and  under  divine  control,  had  led  the  Mys- 
tics of  Egypt,  Persia,  and  India,  to  select  Osiris,  Mithras, 
and  Buddha  as  names  or  persons  representative  of  the  Man 
Regenerate  and  constituting  a  full  manifestation  of  the 
qualities  of  Spirit.  And  it  was  for  the  same  purpose  and 
under  the  same  impulsion  that  the  Mystics  of  the  West, 
who  had  their  head-quarters  at  Alexandria,  selected  Jesus, 
using  him  as  a  type  whereby  to  exhibit  the  history  of  all 
souls  which  attain  to  perfection  ;  employing  physical  occur- 
rences as  symbols,  and  relating  them  as  parables,  to  inter- 
pret which  literally  would  be  to  falsify  their  intended  import. 
Their  method  was,  thus,  to  universalise  that  which  was  par- 
ticular, and  to  spiritualise  that  which  was  material ;  and, 


224  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

writing,  as  tliey  did,  with  full  knowleds^e  of  previous  mys- 
tical descriptions  of  the  Man  Regenerate,  his  interior  his- 
tory and  his  relations  to  the  world, — notable  among  which 
descriptions  was  the  fifty-third  chapter  of  the  miscellaneous 
fragmentary  prophetic  utterances  collected  together  under 
the  typical  name  of  Isaiah^ — they  would  have  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  presenting  a  character  consistent  with  the  general 
anticipation  of  those  who  were  cognisant  of  the  meaning 
of  the  term  "  Christ,"  even  without  an  actual  example. 

26.  The  failure  to  interpret  the  mystical  Scriptures  by 
the  mystical  rule,  was  due  to  the  loss,  by  the  Church,  of  the 
mystical  faculty,  or  inner,  spiritual  vision,  through  which 
they  were  written.  Passing  under  a  domination  exclu- 
sively sacerdotal  and  traditional,  and  losing  thereby  the 
intuition  of  things  spiritual,  the  Church  fell  an  easy  prey  to 
that  which  is  the  besetting  sin  of  priesthoods, — Idolatry ; 
and  in  place  of  the  simple,  true,  reasonable  Gospel,  to  illus- 
trate which  the  history  of  Jesus  had  been  expressly  de- 
signed, fabricated  the  stupendous  and  irrational  superstition 
which  has  usurped  his  name.  Converted  by  the  exaltation 
of  the  Letter  and  the  symbol  in  place  of  the  Spirit  and 
the  signification,  into  an  idolatry  every  whit  as  gross  as 
any  that  preceded  it,  Christianity  has  failed  to  redeem  the 
world.  Christianity  has  failed,  that  is,  not  because  it  was 
false,  but  because  it  has  been  falsified.  And  the  falsifica- 
tion, generally,  has  consisted  in  removing  the  character 
described  under  the  name  of  Jesus,  from  its  true  function 
as  the  portrait  of  that  of  which  every  man  has  in  him  the 
potentiality,  and  referring  it  exclusively  to  an  imaginary 
order  of  being  between  whom  and  man  could  be  no  possible 
relation,  even  were  such  a  being  himself  possible.  Instead 
of  recognising  the  Gospels  as  a  written  hieroglyph,  setting 
forth,  under  terms  derived  from  natural  objects  and  persons, 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  225 

processes  which  are  purely  spiritual  and  impersonal,  the 
Churches  have — one  and  all — fallen  into  that  lowest  mode 
of  fetish- worship,  which  consists  in  the  adoration  of  a  mere 
symbol,  entirely  irrespective  of  its  true  import.  To  the 
complaint  that  will  inevitably  be  made  against  this  exposi- 
tion of  the  real  nature  of  the  Gospel  history, — that  it  has 
"taken  away  the  Lord," — the  reply  is  no  less  satisfactory 
than  obvious.  For  he  has  been  taken  away  only  from  the 
place  wherein  so  long  the  Church  has  kept  him,  that  is, — 
the  sepulchre.  There,  indeed,  it  is,  with  the  dead, — bound 
about  with  cerements,  a  figure  altogether  of  the  past, — that 
Christians  have  laid  their  Christ.  But  at  length  the  "stone" 
of  Superstition  has  been  lifted  and  rolled  away  by  the  hand 
of  the  Angel  of  Knowledge,  and  the  grave  it  concealed  is 
discovered  to  be  empty.  No  longer  need  the  soul  seek 
her  living  Master  among  the  dead.  Christ  is  risen, — risen 
into  the  heaven  of  a  living  Ideal,  whence  he  can  again 
descend  into  the  hearts  of  all  who  desire  him,  none  the  less 
real  and  puissant,  because  a  universal  principle,  and  not 
merely  an  historical  personage;  none  the  less  mighty  to 
save  because,  instead  of  being  a  single  Man  Regenerate,  he 
is  every  Man  Regenerate,  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand, 
—the  "  Son  of  Man  "  himself. 

27.  The  name  Jesus,  or  Liberator,  belongs  not  to  the 
man  physical, — of  his  name  and  parentage  the  Gospels 
take  no  note, — but  to  the  man  spiritual,  and  is  an  initiation 
name  denoting  re-birth  into  a  spiritual  life.  In  this  relation 
the  man  physical  has  no  title  to  the  name  of  Liberator, 
since  the  limitations  from  which  man  requires  to  be  de- 
livered can  be  overcome  only  by  that  which  transcends  the 
physical.  Wherefore  the  name  Jesus  belongs  to  that  in 
and  by  which  liberation  occurs,  namely,  the  man's  own  re- 
generated selfhood;  and  whereas  it   is  in  and  by  means 

Q 


226  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

of  this  selfhood  that  he  has  emerged  from  a  condition  of 
spiritual  death  to  one  of  spiritual  life,  it  signifies  to  him  a 
resurrection  from  the  dead.  Jesus  is  thus  the  name,  not 
of  one  but  of  many,  not  of  a  person,  but  of  an  Order,  the 
Order  of  regenerated  Selfhoods,  each  of  which  is  "  Christ- 
Jesus  "  in  that  it  is  the  Saviour,  through  "  Christ,"  of  him 
in  whom  it  is  realised,  though  not  all  of  these  are  Christs 
in  the  sense  of  being  manifestations  of  Christ  to  the  world. 
Paul  alone  of  the  Apostles  clearly  taught  the  doctrine  of 
the  subjective  nature  of  the  saving  agency.  His  expression, 
"  Christ  in  you  the  hope  of  glory,"  is  inapplicable  to  any 
physical  or  extraneous  personality.  As  a  kabbalist  and 
mystic,  Paul  was  an  evolutionist,  and  knew  that  the  seed  of 
every  man's  regeneration  is  within.  Hence  his  exaltation 
of  Christ  as  an  interior  principle,  and  his  ability  to  re- 
cognise that  method  of  the  mystical  Scriptures  which  con- 
sists in  regarding  man  as  a  distinct  personality  in  each 
successive  stage  of  his  unfoldraent,  and  assigning  to  him 
a  corresponding  name.  Adam,  David,  Jesus,  are  thus 
respectively  the  man  "natural,"  being  simply  generate; 
the  man  "  under  grace,"  or  partially  regenerate,  and  there- 
fore liable  to  serious  lapses  ;  and  the  man  fully  regenerate, 
and  incapable  of  sin.  Hence  Paul's  declaration  that  in 
the  Adam  stage  of  our  development  we  all  die,  not  having 
yet  realised  our  saving  principle ;  but  in  the  Christ  stage 
we  all  have  eternal  life.  It  was  not,  however,  so  much 
Paul's  mysticism,  as  the  sacerdotal  guise  in  which  he  pre- 
sented it,  that  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  disciples. 

28.  Although  the  Gospels  uniformly  describe  the  miracles 
wrought  by  the  Man  Regenerate  in  terms  derived  from  the 
physical  plane.  He,  as  master  of  the  spirits  of  all  the 
elements,  works  miracles  on  all  planes.  Only  those,  how 
ever,  which  are  referable  to  the  spiritual  plane  have  signifi- 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  227 

cance  and  value  for  the  Soul.  Hence  for  it  the  raising 
from  the  dead — as  of  Lazarus — implies  resurrection  from 
the  condition  of  spiritual  deadness ;  the  giving  of  sight 
implies  the  opening  of  the  spiritual  vision  ;  and  the  feeding 
of  the  hungry  multitude  implies  the  satisfaction  of  man's 
cravings  for  spiritual  nourishment.  The  terms  descriptive 
of  the  miracle  last  named  afford  one  of  the  numerous  indi- 
cations of  the  influence  of  Greek  ideas  in  the  composition 
of  the  Gospels.  For  the  "  loaves  "  represent  the  doctrine  of 
the  lesser  Mysteries  whose  "  grain "  is  of  the  Earth,  the 
kingdom  of  Demeter  and  of  the  outer.  And  the  "  fishes  " 
— which  are  given  after  the  loaves — imply  the  greater 
Mysteries,  those  of  Aphrodite, — fishes  symbolising  the 
element  of  the  "Sea-born"  Queen  of  Love,  whose  dominion 
is  the  inner  kingdom  of  the  Soul.^  Similarly  the  conver- 
sion of  water  into  wine  implies  the  mysteries  of  lacchos, 
the  mystic  name  of  the  planet-God.  The  "beginning  of 
miracles  "  for  the  Man  Regenerate  is  always  the  transmuta- 
tion of  the  "  Water  "  of  his  own  Soul  into  the  "  Wine  "  of 
the  Divine  Spirit.  To  these  mysteries — which  also  were 
Egvptian,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  were  enacted  in  the 
"  king's  and  queen's  chambers  "  of  the  Great  Pyramid — 
belong  also  the  "Acts"  or  "Crowns"  which  constitute  for 
the  Man  Regenerate  the  "  Week "  of  his  New  Creation, 
each  being  a  "day"  in  that  week.  They  are  Baptism — 
called  also  Betrothal  in  view  of  the  subsequent  "  Marriage": 
Temptation,  or  Trial :  Passion :  Crucifixion,  or  Death : 
Burial :  Resurrection ;  and  Ascension,  the  Sabbath,  or  Nir- 
vana, of  perfection  and  rest,  when — the  "veil  of  the  Temple" 
of  the  external  self-hood  having  already  been  "  rent  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom " — he  enters  into  the  "  Holy  of 
Holies"  of  his  now  divine  nature.  All  these  Acts  or 
'  See  Appendices,  No.  XIII.,  Part  I. 


128  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Crowns — irrespective  of  any  correspondence  on  the  physical 
plane — denote  indispensable  processes  enacted  in  the  in- 
terior experiences  of  all  who  attain  to  full  regeneration. 
From  which  it  follows  that  the  Gospel  narrative,  while  re- 
lated— in  Scripture  fashion — as  of  an  actual  particular 
person,  and  in  terms  derived  from  the  physical  plane — is  a 
mystical  history  only  of  any  person,  and  implies  the  spiritual 
possibilities  of  all  persons.  And  hence,  while  using  terms 
implying,  or  derived  from,  actual  times,  places,  persons  and 
events,  it  does  not  really  refer  to  these  or  make  pretence  to 
historical  precision,  its  function  and  purpose  being,  not  to 
relate  physical  facts,  which  can  have  no  relation  to  the  soul, 
but  to  exhibit  and  illustrate  processes  and  principles  which 
are  purely  spiritual.  Thus  regarded,  the  Gospels — even 
though  having  in  view  a  special  personality  as  their  model 
— constitute  a  parable  rather  than  a  history. 

29.  There  is,  moreover,  a  yet  further  explanation  of  the 
indifference  to  identity  of  detail  by  which  everywhere  this 
narrative  is  characterised.  Being  four  in  number,  and  dis- 
posed in  order  corresponding  to  that  of  the  four  divisions 
of  man's  nature,  the  Gospels  have  for  standpoint,  and  bear 
relation  to,  different  planes  of  the  kosmos.  Thus,  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew,  which  represents  the  lower  and  physical  plane, 
appeals  more  particularly  on  behalf  of  the  character  ascribed 
to  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  fulfilling  the  promises  of  the 
Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  pervaded  by  one 
principle,  the  fulfilment  in  him  at  once  of  the  Law  and  of 
the  prophecies.  The  Gospel  of  Mark  is  adapted  to  the 
plane  next  above  this,  namely,  the  rational ;  its  appeal  on 
behalf  of  the  divinity  of  the  mission  of  Jesus  being  founded 
on  the  nature  of  his  doctrine  and  works.  The  Gospel  of 
Luke  represents  the  further  ascent  to  the  plane  of  the  soul 
and  the  intuition.     Hence  it  occupies  itself  chiefly  with 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  229 

accounts  of  the  spiritual  parentage  of  the  Man  Regenerate, 
— setting  forth  under  a  parabolic  narrative  his  genesis  from 
the  operation  of  God  in  a  pure  soul.  To  the  same  end, 
this  Gospel  gives  prominence  to  the  familiar  conversations, 
rather  than  to  the  formal  teaching  of  its  Subject,  since  it 
is  in  these  that  the  affectional  nature  of  a  man  is  best 
manifested.  In  the  fourth  Gospel  the  scene  changes  to  a 
sphere  transcending  all  the  others,  being  in  the  highest 
degree  interior,  mystic,  spiritual.  This  Gospel,  therefore, 
corresponds  to  the  Nucleolus,  or  Divine  Spirit,  of  the 
microcosmic  entity,  and  exhibits  the  Regenerate  Man  as 
having  surmounted  all  the  elements  exterior  and  inferior 
of  his  system,  and  won  his  way  to  the  inmost  recess  of  his 
own  celestial  kingdom,  where,  arrived  at  his  centre  and 
source,  he  and  his  Father  are  One  ;  and  he  knows  positively 
that  God  is  Love,  since  it  is  by  Love  that  he  himself  has 
found  and  become  God.  Such  being  the  controlling  idea 
of  this  Gospel,  its  composition  is  appropriately  assigned  to 
that  "  Beloved  Disciple "  whose  very  name  denotes  the 
feminine  and  love  principle  of  existence.  And  to  "  John," 
surnamed  "  the  Divine "  in  respect  of  the  character  thus 
ascribed  to  his  ministry,  is  unanimously  assigned  the  em- 
blem of  the  Eagle,  as  representing  the  highest  element  in 
the  human  kingdom.  With  regard  to  the  distribution  of  the 
other  three  symbols,  it  is  obvious — when  once  the  intention 
of  each  division  of  the  Christian  evangel  is  understood — 
that  Matthew,  who  corresponds  to  the  earth  or  body,  is 
rightly  represented  by  the  Ox ;  Mark,  the  minister  of  the 
astral  or  fire,  by  the  Lion  ;  and  Luke,  whose  pen  is  chiefly 
occupied  with  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  Soul,  by  an 
Angel  with  the  face  of  a  man  to  denote  the  sea-god  Posei- 
don, the  "father  of  Souls."  The  Gospels  are  thus  dedicated, 
each  to  one  of  the  elemental  spirits,  Demeter,  Hephaistos, 


ajo  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Poseidon,  and  Pallas.  Owing,  however,  to  the  loss  by  the 
Church  of  the  doctrine  which  determines  this  distribution, 
much  confusion  and  difference  of  opinion  exist  among 
ecclesiastical  authorities  with  regard  to  the  correct  assign- 
ment of  the  elemental  emblems.  All  the  Fathers  are 
agreed  in  giving  the  Eagle  to  the  Fourth  Gospeller,  and 
but  little  doubt  exists  respecting  the  claim  of  Mark  to  the 
Lion ;  but  the  Ox  and  Angel  have  been  generally  mis- 
placed in  order. 

Part  IV. 

30.  Having  defined  the  nature  of  the  Man  Regenerate 
and  the  relations  represented  in  the  Gospels  as  subsisting 
between  him  and  the  soul  personified  as  the  Virgin  Mary,  it 
remains  still  further  to  "  declare  his  generation  "  by  exhibit- 
ing the  function  fulfilled  towards  these  two  by  the  Mind, 
which  is  personified  as  Joseph,  the  Spouse  of  the  Virgin  and 
foster  father  of  her  Son.  This  is  not  the  first  appearance 
of  Joseph  in  the  Bibhcal  presentation  of  the  drama  of  the 
SouL  On  the  previous  occasion  he  was  in  the  vigour  of 
youth,  yet  sufficiently  matured  intellectually  and  morally  to 
be  found  worthy  the  highest  posts  of  responsibiUty,  and  able 
to  withstand  the  seductive  sophistries  of  the  materialistic 
philosophy — typified  by  the  wife  of  Potiphar — of  which 
"  Egypt,"  the  symbol  of  the  lower  nature,  is  always  the  seat. 

As  also  on  his  later  appearance,  he  was  emphatically  a 
"just  man,"  so  that — it  is  written — the  king  set  him  over 
all  the  land  and  bid  every  one  go  to  him  and  do  all  that  he 
should  direct.  And  under  his  guidance,  Israel — who  had 
followed  him  into  Egypt,  and  to  serve  whom  while  there 
ifas  his  divinely  appointed  function — prospered  exceedingly. 
But  losing  him,  they  sank  into  extreme  misery,  being  en- 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION,  231 

slaved  and  evil  entreated  of  the  Egyptians.^  On  his  reap- 
pearance in  the  Gospels,^  Joseph  is  still  the  **  son  of  Jacob  " 
and  a  "just  man  "  ;  but  of  advanced  maturity,  yet  possessed 
of  energy  and  wisdom  in  measure  to  qualify  him  for  the 
most  difficult  and  delicate  of  tasks,  that  of  guarding  and 
guiding  a  pure  and  tender  soul  to  the  realisation  ot  its 
highest  aspirations,  the  production  in  its  offspring  of  a 
character  Divinely  perfect  His  task  corresponded,  indeed, 
to  that  assigned  to  the  former  Joseph,  as  the  protector  of 
the  chosen  of  God ;  but  the  mode  was  changed,  the  level 
was  higher,  and  the  stage  more  advanced.  The  legend  of 
the  selection  of  Joseph  to  be  the  Spouse  of  the  Virgin  and 
foster  father  of  her  predicted  Son,  shows  the  quality  of  mind 
deemed  requisite  for  such  offices.  For  in  representing  his 
rod  alone  of  those  belonging  to  the  candidates  as  blossom- 
ing, and  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  dove  settling  upon  it,  the 
legend  implies  a  mind — of  which  and  its  knowledges  the 
rod  is  a  symbol — competent  for  the  perception  of  divine 
things  and  the  suggestion  of  divine  acts,  and  controlled, 
therefore,  by  the  Divine  Will.  Only  under  the  protection 
and  governance  of  a  mind  thus  conditioned  can  the  soul 
become  mother  of  man  regenerate, — mother,  that  is,  of  God 
in  man.  And  in  order  to  show  the  supreme  importance 
attached  by  it  to  the  function  of  the  Mind  in  this  relation, 
the  Catholic  Church  speaks  of  St.  Joseph  as  having  "re- 
ceived all  power  necessary  for  the  salvation  of  souls"; 
styles  him  an  "Angel  on  earth,"  "King  of  Saints  and 
Angels,"  and  "  third  person  of  the  earthly  Trinity  " ;  and 
declares  that  "  after  the  dignity  of  Mother  of  God  comes 
that   of  the  foster  father  of  God";  "after  Mary  comes 

*  See  Appendices,  No.  XII.  (6). 

'  As  not  persons  but  principles  are  here  intended,  there  is  no  sug- 
gestion of  a  reincarnation  of  an  individual. 


232  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

Joseph  " ; — expressions  intelligible  and  appropriate  as  ap- 
plied to  the  mind  as  a  factor  in  the  higher  evolution  of 
man  ;  his  redemption,  that  is,  from  his  lower  elements  ;  but 
not  as  applied  to  a  person,  be  he  whom  he  may.  Never- 
theless, the  mind  is  only  the  putative,  not  the  actual,  father 
of  the  man  regenerate.  His  exclusive  parents  are  the  Soul 
and  Spirit,  variously  designated  "  Water  and  the  Spirit," 
"Virgin  Mary  and  the  Holy  Ghost."  Being  an  entity 
purely  spiritual,  his  parentage  also  is  purely  spiritual,  and 
the  mind  has  no  more  part  in  his  generation  than  the  body. 
Wherefore  Joseph,  who  is  not  the  builder  of  the  house,  but 
its  fitter  and  furnisher,  is  not  mason  but  carpenter. 

31.  It  is  not  only  in  virtue  of  his  function  of  protector 
from  Herod — who  as  the  genius  of  the  world's  materialistic 
regime  always  is  the  destroyer  of  innocence — that  Joseph 
takes  the  young  child  and  his  mother  and  flees  into  Egypt, 
but  in  virtue  also  of  his  function  as  educator.  For  in 
denoting  the  world  and  the  body,  Egypt  denotes  the  lessons 
to  be  derived  from  both  of  these,  the  learning  of  which  is 
indispensable  to  the  soul's  development.  "  There  is  Corn 
in  Egypt.  Go  thou  down  into  her,  O  my  soul,  with  joy," 
says  the  man  seeking  regeneration,  on  every  fresh  return 
into  earthly  conditions;  "  For  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Body 
thou  shalt  eat  the  bread  of  thine  Initiation."  He  returns  as 
an  eager  scholar  to  school.  I'he  ladder  of  evolution  must 
be  climbed  painfully  and  with  labour  from  the  lowest  step 
again  and  again,  for  each  fresh  branch  of  experience  that  is 
necessary  for  the  soul's  full  development.  For  "  there  is 
no  knowledge  but  by  labour ;  no  intuition  but  by  experi- 
ence." Heavenly  things  are  unintelligible  until  earthly 
things  have  been  mastered.  Only  when  the  aspirant  is  so 
firmly  grounded  and  so  far  advanced  as  to  have  nothing 


Lect.  VIII. ]  THE  REDEMPTION,  233 

more  to  fear  from  "  Herod,"  who  thus  is  virtually  dead  for 
him,  can  he  return  with  safety  to  the  land  of  Israel.  And 
even  there  the  mind  must  still  be  his  guard  and  guide  until 
by  the  attainment  of  his  spiritual  majority  he  passes  into 
higher  keeping.  The  parallel  between  the  two  Josephs  is 
maintained  to  the  last.  Both  are  leaders  of  the  chosen 
family  into  Egypt  and  their  protectors  while  there.  And  of 
each  the  withdrawal  is  followed  by  danger  and  disaster. 
There  is  a  profound  significance  in  the  date  assigned  for 
the  death  of  the  second  Joseph.  According  to  Christian 
tradition  he  remains  with  the  Virgin  and  her  Son,  stead- 
fastly exercising  his  functions  towards  them,  until  the  latter 
is  twenty-nine  years  of  age.  The  age  of  full  and  final  per- 
fection for  the  man  regenerate  is — as  already  explained  (par. 
19.) — the  age  of  thirty-three,  mystically  computed,  this  im- 
plying his  accomplishment  of  the  thirty-three  steps  of  initia- 
tion of  which  the  last  and  highest  is  his  "ascension  "  by 
transmutation,  to  final  divine  union.  But  the  achievement 
of  thirty  steps  fits  him  for  his  mission,  by  lifting  him  from 
the  sphere  wherein  the  mind  is  still  necessary  to  him — the 
sphere  of  acquisition,  reflection,  and  deliberation — to  that 
wherein  he  is  independent  of  processes  of  ratiocination, — 
the  sphere  of  direct  perception  and  knowledge,  inasmuch 
as  he  is  thenceforth  under  a  control  exclusively  divine, 
being  "  driven  of  the  Spirit."  At  this  juncture,  therefore, — 
just  as  Jesus  "  begins  to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age," — 
Joseph  dies,  leaving  him  to  enter  upon  the  career  which 
ends  in  his  crucifixion,  unimpeded  by  the  prudential  con- 
siderations which  it  is  the  province  of  the  mind  to  suggest. 
In  accounting  Joseph  the  patron  of  a  happy  death,  the 
Church  implies  the  blissful  satisfaction  of  a  mind  conscious 
of  having  made  the  interests  of  the  Soul  and  her  divine  life, 
its  supreme  object 


234  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

32.  Besides  the  state  wherein  the  soul  as  Eve  and 
iramergent  into  materiality  becomes  the  mother  of  man 
degenerate,  and  that  wherein  as  Virgin  Mary  and  exempt 
from  materiality  she  becomes  the  mother  of  man  regenerate, 
there  is  a  third  and  intermediate  state,  an  exposition  of 
which  is  necessary  to  the  fall  comprehension  of  the  Gospels. 
This  is  the  state  of  the  soul  during  the  period  of  her  pro- 
gress from  Eve  to  Virgin  IMary,  while  undergoing  the 
experiences  indispensable  to  such  evolution.  For  the  soul, 
no  less  than  the  man  re-born  of  her,  must  be  "  perfected 
through  suffering," — the  suffering  involved  in  experiences 
profoundly  felt  and  wisely  applied.  Hence  her  appellation 
"  Sea  of  Bitterness."  Only  when  she  has  exchanged  the 
innocence  that  comes  of  ignorance,  for  the  impeccability 
that  comes  of  full  knowledge,  is  she  no  longer  in  danger 
of  relapse.  Thenceforth  there  is  for  her  son  "no  more 
sea." 

Thus  the  very  '*  sin  "  involved  in  the  acquisition  of  ex- 
periences may  itself  be  a  means  of  redemption.  Of  these 
experiences  the  agent  is  always  matter,  this  being  at  once 
the  cause  and  the  consequence  of  limitation  of  spirit.  And 
whereas  the  soul's  only  true  affinity  and  legitimate  affection 
is  Spirit — her  own  nature  being  spiritual — her  intercourse 
with  matter  is  mystically  accounted  an  adultery,  and  she 
herself,  during  its  continuance,  is  styled  a  "harlot."  She 
may,  nevertheless,  in  this  her  "  fallen "  state,  retain  and 
cherish  the  sense  of  her  true  nature  and  destiny,  and 
eagerly  anticipate  the  time  when,  freed  from  her  associa- 
tion with  materiality,  and  purged  of  her  defilement,  she  will 
emerge  white  and  spotless  to  claim  her  proper  rank.  That 
through  which  she  will  do  this,  will  always  be  Love, — her 
love  for  the  ideal  she  has  kept  alive,  though  latent,  in  her 
heart,  even  while  descending  to  so  low  an  actual.     And  for 


Lect.  VIIL]  the  redemption.  235 

the  sake  of  this  Love,  her  sins — how  many  and  grievous 
soever  they  may  have  been — will  be  forgiven  her,  and  she 
herself  in  her  turn  will  be  dearly  loved  of  Him — the  Man 
Regenerate — since  he  will  recognise  in  her  past  the  indis- 
pensable prelude  to  his  own  present.  And  thus  will  she 
become  ministrant  to  him  of  her  substance, — he  unhesi- 
tatingly accepting,  notwithstanding  the  mode  of  its  ac- 
quisition ;  while  the  very  passionateness  of  her  nature,  which 
has  led  to  her  past  self-abandonment,  serves  but  to  endear 
her  to  him  the  more  as  betokening  her  capacity  for  self- 
surrender  in  the  opposite  direction.  And  only  by  him  are 
her  acts  of  devotion  towards  him  not  deemed  extragavant, 
because  he,  and  he  alone,  comprehends  their  source  and 
significance.  The  name  given  in  the  Gospels  to  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Soul  in  this  state  is  Mary  Magdalen,  whom 
tradition  identifies  with  Mary  of  Bethany.  In  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, where  she  aids  Israel  to  enter  the  promised  land, 
she  is  termed  Rahab, — a  name  which,  signifying  large  or 
extended,  may  have  been  given  her  to  imply  that  the  soul 
which  through  weakness  or  fear  shrinks  from  experiences, 
remains  stunted  and  dwarfed,  and  makes  but  a  poor  saving 
after  all. 

33.  Herein  lies  the  secret  of  the  leniency  and  even 
tenderness  exhibited  by  the  typical  Man  Regenerate  to- 
wards women  of  this  class.  Himself  the  representative  of 
a  perfection  won  through  experience,  he  knows  that  the 
soul,  of  which  Woman  is  the  type,  must  have  experiences. 
Himself  the  child  of  the  soul,  he  heeds  only  the  state  of  the 
soul,  and  views  every  act  from  the  standpoint  of  the  soul, 
caring  only  for  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  performed.  The 
conduct  of  Jesus  in  the  case  of  the  woman  brought  before 
him,  when  he  reserved  all  his  reprobation  for  her  accusers, 


«36  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

was  but  the  reduction  to  practice  of  his  denunciations  of 
the  chief  priests  and  elders,  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that 
the  publicans  and  the  harlots  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God 
before  you."  To  ingrained  impurity  and  hardness  of  heart, 
and  to  these  alone,  he  is  obdurate.  Let  a  soul  but  be  on  the 
upward  path,  no  matter  at  how  low  a  point,  and  for  Him  it 
takes  rank  with  the  highest.  He  has  already  marked  it  for 
his  own  ;  it  is  one  of  his  Elect. 

34.  They  are,  in  their  primary  sense,  various  states  of  the 
soul  which  the  Apocalypse  describes  under  the  guise  of  the 
Seven  Churches  of  Asia  Minor.  And  it  is  the  soul  hope- 
lessly debased  and  reprobate  which,  under  terms  drawn  from 
the  Rome  of  the  period,  is  denounced  as  the  paramour  of 
the  "  kings  of  the  earth  " — that  is  man's  ruling  propensities 
— and  doomed  to  destruction  together  with  that  "  Great 
City"  which  rests  upon  the  "seven  deadly  sins"  as  Rome 
upon  seven  hills,  the  world's  materialistic  system. 

35.  Not  only  is  the  process  of  the  soul's  growth,  educa- 
tion, and  purification  so  slow  and  gradual  as  to  require  for 
its  accomplishment  the  experiences  of  numerous  earth-lives, 
it  is  also  liable  to  be  so  unequal  that,  while  far  advanced  in 
certain  respects,  in  others  it  may  be  as  far  in  arrears.  And, 
meanwhile,  these  inequalities  may  find  expression  in  anoma- 
lies and  inconsistencies  of  character  in  the  highest  degree 
perplexing  and  distressing,  combining  in  one  and  the  same 
personality  the  opposite  extremes  of  sage  and  simpleton, 
saint  and  sinner,  a  high  moral  character  with  dull  intellec- 
tual faculties,  or  keen  intellectual  faculties,  with  a  total 
absence  of  moral  perception  ;  or,  again,  a  high  moral  and 
intellectual  nature  with  complete  deprivation  of  spiritual 
perception.      Thus   irregularly   developed,  the  same  soul 


Lect.  VIII.  ]  THE  REDEMPTION.  237 

may  subsist  at  once  in  all  the  stages  enumerated,  being 
simultaneously  Eve,  Magdalen,  and  Blessed  Virgin,  and 
manifesting  in  turn  the  characteristics  of  each.  Only  when 
she  is  all  Virgin  Mary  can  she  become  mother  of  a  man 
wholly  regenerate.  As  sings  the  mystic  poet  already 
quoted, — 

"  I  must  become  Queen  Mary,  and  birth  to  God  must  give, 
If  I  in  blessedness  for  evermore  would  live."  ^ 

'^(i.  We  have  yet  to  identify, the  persons  represented  in 
the  Gospels  as  fulfilling  at  the  Nativity  the  important 
function  of  recognition.  These  are  the  Magi,  or  "Wise 
men  from  the  East,"  who  hastened  to  render  their  homage 
and  their  offerings  at  the  cradle  of  the  Divine  Infant.  Ac- 
cording to  Catholic  tradition,  they  were  three  in  number, 
and  were  royal  personages,  a  description  which  seems  to 
identify  them  with  the  "kings  of  the  East"  of  the  Apoca- 
lyptic visions,  whose  habitat  lies  beyond  the  "great  river 
Euphrates,"  and  the  way  for  whose  coming  requires  to  be 
specially  prepared  by  the  making  of  a  ford  across  that 
river.  Now  the  Euphrates  is  one  of  the  "  four  rivers "  of 
Genesis,  already  explained  (Lecture  VI.  6)  as  denoting  the 
four  constituent  principles  of  the  human  kosmos.  It  is  the 
Will ;  in  man  unfallen,  the  Divine  Will ;  in  man  fallen,  the 
human  will.  The  East  is  the  mystical  term  for  the  source 
of  heavenly  light.  "  The  glory  of  God  came  from  the  way 
of  the  East,"  says  Ezekiel.  Wherefore  the  "  Kings  of  the 
East"  are  they  who  hold  sway  in  a  region  lying  beyond 
and  above  the  "  river  "  of  the  human  Will,  and  only  when 
that  river  is  "dried  up"  can  they  approach  man  as  heralds 
of  the  Divine  Glory.  Their  function  it  is  to  announce  the 
Epiphany  of  the  Divine  Life,  to  be  the  Sponsors  for  the 

*  Scheffler. 


238  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Christ,  the  Godfathers  of  the  heavenly  Babe.  To  them  it 
is  appointed  to  discern  him  from  afar  off,  and  to  hasten 
to  affirm  and  declare  him  while  yet  in  his  cradle.  Their 
offerings  of  gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh  denote  the 
recognition  of  the  indwelling  divinity  by  the  prophetic, 
priestly,  and  regal  attributes  of  man.  Representing,  re- 
spectively, the  spirit,  the  soul,  and  the  mind,  they  are 
symbolised  as  an  angel,  a  queen,  and  a  king;  and  they 
are,  actually.  Right  Aspiration,  Right  Perception,  and  Right 
Judgment.  The  first  implies  enthusiasm  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  advancement  of  souls,  unalloyed  by  any 
selfish  end.  The  second  implies  a  vision  for  things  spiri- 
tual, undimmed  and  undistorted  by  intrusion  of  elements 
material  or  astral.  And  the  third  implies  the  ability  to 
"compare  like  with  hke  and  preserve  the  affinity  of  simi- 
lars," so  that  things  spiritual  may  not  be  confounded  with 
things  physical,  but  "  to  God  shall  be  rendered  the  things 
of  God,  and  to  Caesar  the  things  of  C^sar." 

37.  But  wherefore  is  it  to  a  Cave  and  a  Stable  that  the 
Star  of  the  Understanding  directs  the  steps  of  the  Wise 
Men  when  seeking  the  birthplace  of  the  Christ?  Because, 
**  In  the  elements  of  the  Body  is  he  imprisoned,  lying 
asleep  in  the  caves  of  lacchus,  in  the  crib  of  the  Oxen  of 
Demeter."!  Because,  that  is,  in  constituting  the  culmina- 
tion of  the  returning  and  ascending  stream  of  emanation, 
Christ  is  attained  by  evolution  from  the  lowest : — "  From 
the  dust  of  the  ground  to  the  throne  of  the  Most  High." 

38.  An  important  factor  in  the  education  of  the  Man 
Regenerate  is  that  described  under  the  figure  of  John  the 
Baptist.     For  he,  too,  is  interior  and  mystic,  inasmuch  as 

*  See  Appendices  No.  XIII.,  Part  I. 


Lect.  viil]  the  redemption.  2^g 

he  represents  that  all-compelling  summons  of  the  conscience 
to  repentance,  renunciation,  and  purification,  which  is  the 
indispensable  precursor  of  success  in  the  quest  after  inward 
perfection. 

39.  The  history  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  her  functions  in 
regard  to  her  Son,  as  presented  alike  in  the  Gospels  and  in 
Catholic  tradition  and  ritual,  are  in  every  particular  those 
of  the  soul  to  whom  it  is  given  to  be  "  Mother  of  God  "  in 
man.  Her  acts  and  graces,  as  well  as  his  life  and  passion, 
belong  to  the  experience  of  every  redeemed  man.  As  the 
Christ  in  him  delivers  him  from  the  curse  of  Adam,  so  the 
Virgin  Mary  in  him  delivers  him  from  the  curse  of  Eve, 
and  secures  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  the  conquest 
over  the  serpent  of  Matter.  And,  whereas,  as  sinner,  he 
has  seen  enacted  in  his  own  interior  experience  the  drama 
of  the  Fall ;  so,  as  saint,  he  enacts  the  mysteries  represented 
in  the  Rosary  of  the  Virgin,  his  soul  passing  in  turn  through 
every  stage  of  her  joys,  her  sorrows,  and  her  glories. 
Wherefore  the  part  assigned  to  Mary  in  the  Christian 
Evangel  is  the  part  borne  by  the  soul  in  all  mystical 
experience.  That  which  first  beguiles  and  leads  astray  the 
soul  is  the  attraction  of  the  illusory  world  of  mere  pheno- 
mena, which  is  aptly  represented  under  the  figure  of  the 
Serpent  with  glittering  coils,  insinuating  mien,  and  eyes 
full  of  fascination.  Yielding  to  this  attraction,  through 
directing  her  gaze  outwards  and  downwards  instead  of 
inwards  and  upwards,  the  soul — as  Eve — has  abandoned 
celestial  realities  for  mundane  shadows,  and  entangled  in 
her  fall  the  mind,  or  Adam.  Thus  mind  and  soul  fall 
together  and  lose  the  power  of  desiring  and  apprehending 
the  divine  tilings  which  alone  make  for  life,  and,  so,  become 
cast  out  of  divine  conditions,  and  conscious  only  of  ma- 


240  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

terial  environments  and  liable  to  material  limitations.  This 
substitution  of  the  illusory  for  the  real,  of  the  material  for  the 
spiritual,  of  the  phenomenal  for  the  substantial,  constitutes 
the  whole  sin  and  loss  of  the  Fall.  Redemption  consists 
in  the  recovery  of  the  power  once  more  to  apprehend,  to 
love,  and  to  grasp  the  real.  "Original  sin,"  from  which 
Mary  is  exempt,  is  precisely  the  condition  of  bHndness 
which — owing  to  the  soul's  immergence  in  materiality — 
hinders  the  perception  of  divine  things.  By  no  possibility 
can  the  Divine  Life  be  generated  in  any  soul  afflicted  with 
this  blindness.  Christ  cannot  be  conceived  save  of  a  soul 
immaculate  and  virgin  as  to  matter,  and  meet  to  become 
the  spouse  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Therefore,  as  the  soul  as 
Eve  gives  consent  to  the  annunciation  of  the  Serpent,  so, 
as  Mary,  become  virgin,  she  gives  consent  to  the  annuncia- 
tion of  the  Angel,  and  understands  the  mystery  of  the 
Motherhood  of  the  man  regenerate.  She  has  no  acts  of 
her  own,  all  the  acts  of  her  Son  are  hers  also.  She  par- 
ticipates in  his  nativity,  in  his  manifestation,  in  his  passion, 
in  his  resurrection,  in  his  ascension,  in  his  pentecostal  gift. 
He  himself  is  her  gift  to  the  world.  But  it  is  always  he 
who  operates;  she  who  asks,  acquiesces,  consents,  responds. 
Through  her  he  outflows  into  the  mind  and  external  man, 
and,  so,  into  life  and  conduct.  As  Augustine  says,  "All 
graces  pass  to  us  through  the  hands  of  Mary."  For  the 
purified  soul  is  the  mediatrix,  as  she  is  the  genetrix,  of  the 
Divine  presence. 

40.  The  Church  speaks  of  the  Ascension  of  Christ,  and 
of  the  Assumption  of  Mary.  Christ  being  deific  in  nature 
and  of  heavenly  origin,  ascends  by  his  own  power  and  will. 
But  the  soul  is  "assumed,"  or  drawn  up  by  the  power  and 
will  of  her  Son.     Of  herself  she  is  nothing;   he  is  her  all 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  241 

in  all.  Where  he  abides,  thither  must  she  be  uplifted,  by 
force  of  the  divine  union  which  makes  her  one  with  him. 
Henceforth  she  abides  in  the  real,  and  has  the  illusions  of 
sense  for  evermore  under  foot.  It  is  not  of  herself  that 
Mary  becomes  Mother  of  God  in  man.  The  narrative  of 
the  Incarnation  implies  a  conjunction  of  human — though 
not  physical — and  Divine  potencies.  Mary  receives  her 
infant  by  an  act  of  celestial  energy  overshadowing  and 
vitalising  her  with  the  Divine  life.  This  is  because  the 
pure  soul  is  as  a  lens  to  the  Divine  rays,  polarising  them 
and  kindling  fire  therefrom.  Having  this  attitude  towards 
God,  she  has  kindled  in  her  that  holy  flame  which  becomes 
the  light  that  enlightens  the  world. 

41.  The  final  state  of  the  soul  of  the  Man  Regenerate  is 
described  in  the  Apocalypse  under  the  figure  of  a  marriage, 
wherein  the  contracting  parties  are  the  soul  herself  and  the 
now  Divine  Spirit  of  the  man,  which  is  called  the  Lamb. 
The  description  of  this  Lamb  as  ''slain  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,"  denotes  the  original  and  eternal  act  of 
self-immolation — typified  in  the  Eucharist — whereby  Deity 
descends  into  conditions  and  distributes  of  Itself  to  be  the 
life  and  substance  of  the  Universe,  alike  for  its  creation,  its 
sus  entation,  and  its  redemption.  In  the  crowning  act  of 
this  stupendous  drama — the  act  which  mystically  is  called 
the  *'  Consummation  of  the  Marriage  of  the  Son  of  God  " 
— the  Spirit  and  Bride,  Trvevjxa  and  vi'/x(/)i7,  as  King  and 
Queen  of  the  perfected  individuality,  are  indissolubly  united; 
and  the  human  is  taken  up  into  the  Divine,  having  received 
the  "  Gift  of  God,"  which  is  life  eternal.  Not  merely  a  gift 
from  God,  although  God  is  the  giver ;  but  a  gift  of  God's 
own  substantial  Self,  the  infinite  and  eternal  /  AAf  being 
individualised  in  him.     As  already  shown,  the  initial  and 

K 


242  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

final  stages  of  man's  spiritual  evolution  are  indicated  by 
Paul  when,  read  with  the  mystic  sense,  and  translated  into 
the  eternal  now^  he  says,  "  He  is  at  first  Adam,  a  living 
soul" — a  soul  having  derived  life;  "He  is  at  last  Christ, 
a  life-giving  Spirit,"  or  spirit  that  is  itself  Divine  life.  "  In 
the  former  all  die.  In  the  latter  all  are  made  to  live." 
From  this  it  appears  that  the  Bible  sets  forth  the  higher 
evolution — that  is,  the  redemption,  called  also  the  new  crea- 
tion— of  man,  as  a  dual  process  occurring  simultaneously  in 
his  two  constituents,  himself  and  his  soul ;  and  whereas  for 
the  former  and  masculine  moiety  the  first  and  last  terms 
are,  respectively,  Adam  and  Christ;  for  the  latter  and 
feminine  moiety  they  are  Eve  and  Mary,  called  also  the 
Bride. 

Part  V. 

42.  It  was  no  part  of  the  design  of  the  Gospels  to  repre- 
sent either  the  course  of  a  man  perfect  from  the  first,  or 
the  whole  course  from  the  first  of  the  man  made  perfect. 
Had  they  been  designed  to  represent  the  former,  they  had 
contained  no  account  of  a  Crucifixion.  For,  of  the  man 
perfect,  no  crucifixion,  in  the  Mystical  sense,  is  possible, 
since  he  has  no  lower  self  or  perverse  will,  or  any  weak- 
ness, to  be  overcome  or  renounced,  the  ani??ia  divina  in 
him  having  become  all  in  all.  That,  therefore,  which  the 
Gospels  exhibit,  is  a  process  consisting  of  the  several 
degrees  of  regeneration,  on  the  attainment  of  the  last  of 
which  only  does  the  man  become  "perfect."  But  of  these 
successive  degrees  not  all  are  indicated.  For  the  Gospels 
deal,  not  with  one  whose  nature  is,  at  first,  wholly  unregener- 
ate,  but  with  one  who  is  already,  in  virtue  of  the  use  made 
of  his  previous  earth-lives,  so  far  advanced  as  to  be  within 
reach,  in  a  single  further  incarnation,  of  full  regeneration. 


Lect.  viii.]  the  redemption.  243 

43.  For,  owing  to  the  complex  and  manifold  nature  oi 
existence,  every  sphere  or  plane  of  man's  being  requires 
for  itself  a  redemptive  process ;  and,  for  each,  this  process 
consists  of  three  degrees.  Of  these  the  first  three  relate  to 
the  Body,  the  second  three  to  the  Mind,  the  third  three  to 
the  Heart,  and  the  fourth  three  to  the  Spirit.  There  are 
thus,  in  all,  twelve  Degrees  or  "  Houses "  of  the  Perfect 
Man  or  Microcosm,  as  there  are  twelve  Zodiacal  Signs  or 
Mansions  of  the  Sun  in  his  course  through  the  heavens 
of  the  Macrocosm.  And  the  Gospels  set  forth  mainly 
the  six  of  the  Heart  and  Spirit.  The  crown  both  of  the 
twelve  degrees  and  of  the  six  acts — that  which  constitutes 
alike  the  ''Sabbath"  of  the  Hebrews,  the  "Nirvana"  of 
the  Buddhists,  and  the  "Transmutation"  of  the  Alchemists 
— is  the  "Divine  Marriage."  Of  this,  accordingly,  types 
and  parables  recur  continually  in  all  Hermetic  Scriptures. 
The  last  book  of  the  Bible,  the  Apocalypse  of  John, 
fitly  closes  with  a  descriptive  allegory  of  it.  In  this  alle- 
gory the  "Bride"  herself  is  described  as  Salem,  the  Peace, 
or  Rest,  of  God,  a  "  city  lying  four-square,"  having  Twelve 
Foundations  and  Four  Aspects,  all  equal  to  each  other, 
and  upon  every  Aspect  Three  Gates.  This  heavenly  Salem 
is,  thus,  the  perfected  Microcosm  in  whom  is  seen  the 
At-one-ment  of  all  the  four  planes,  the  physical,  the  in- 
tellectual, the  moral,  and  the  spiritual;  the  "Gates"  of 
each  side,  or  plane,  symbolising  the  three  degrees  of 
Regeneration  appertaining  to  each.  And  these  twelve 
gates  are  described  as  being  each  of  a  single  pearl,  because, 
like  pearls,  the  excellences  denoted  by  them  are  attainable 
only  through  skill  and  courage,  and  devotion  even  to  tiie 
death,  and  require  of  those  who  would  attain  them  the 
divestment  of  ever>  earthly  encumbrance. 

44.  The  idea  of  this  heavenly  Salem  is  expressed  also 


244  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

in  the  Tabernacle  of  Moses.  For  this,  too,  was  fourfold. 
The  Outer  Court,  which  wps  open,  denoted  the  Body  or 
Man  physical  and  visible ;  tl  e  covered  Tent,  or  Holy  place, 
denoted  the  Man  intellectUc.l  and  invisible ;  and  the  Holy 
of  Holies  within  the  veil,  denoted  the  Heart  or  Soul,  itself 
the  shrine  of  the  Spirit  of  the  man,  and  of  the  divine  Glory, 
which,  in  their  turn,  were  typified  by  the  Ark  and  Shekinah. 
And  in  each  of  the  four  Depositaries  were  three  utensils 
illustrative  of  the  regenerative  degrees  belonging  to  each 
division.  The  Marriage  Supper,  then,  can  be  celebrated 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  Father  only,  when  all  the  ''Twelve 
Apostles,"  or  elements  corresponding  to  the  twelve  degrees, 
have  been  brought  into  perfect  harmony  and  at-one-ment, 
and  no  defective  element  any  longer  exists  among  them. 
In  the  central  place  at  this  divine  feast  is  the  Thirteenth 
Personage,  the  Master  or  Adonai  of  the  system,  the  founder 
and  president  of  the  banquet.  He  it  is  who  in  later  times 
found  a  representative  in  the  pure  and  heaven-born  Arthur, 
— Ar-Thor— the  "Bright  Lord"  of  the  Round  Table. 
For,  as  already  stated,  the  number  of  the  Microcosm  is 
thirteen,  the  thirteenth  being  the  occupant  of  the  interior 
and  fourth  place,  which,  thus,  he  personifies,  constituting 
the  fourth  and  completing  element,  the  Nucleolus  of  the 
whole  cell  or  "Round  Table."  "And  of  this  Fourth  the 
form  is  as  the  Son  of  God."  Thus  the  number  thirteen, 
which  on  the  earthly  plane,  and  before  the  "  Crucifixion," 
is,  through  the  treachery  of  "Judas,"  the  symbol  of  imper- 
fection and  ill-fortune,  becomes,  in  the  "  Kingdom  of  the 
Father,"  the  symbol  of  perfection.  As  the  number  of  the 
lunar  months,  it  is  the  symbol  also  of  the  Woman,  and 
denotes  the  Soul  and  her  reflection  of  God, — the  solar 
number  twelve  being  that  of  the  Spirit.  The  two  numbers 
in  combination  form  the  perfect  year  of  that  dual  humanity 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  24$ 

which  alone  is  made  in  the  image  of  God, — the  true 
"Christian  Year,"  wherein  tlie  two — the  inner  and  the 
outer,  Spirit  and  Matter — aie  as  one.  Thirteen  then 
represents  that  full  union  of  man  with  God  wherein  Christ 
becomes  Christ. 

45.  In  representing  the  Regenerate  Man  as  descended 
through  his  parents  from  the  liouse  of  David  and  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  the  Gospels  imply  that  man,  when  regenerate,  is 
always  possessed  of  the  intuit  on  of  the  true  prophet,  and 
the  purity  of  the  true  priesn,  for  whom  "  David "  and 
*'Levi"  are  the  m)^stical  synonyms.  Thus  the  spiritual 
blood  of  prophet,  priest,  and  king  mingles  in  the  veins 
of  the  Messiah  and  Christ,  whose  lineage  is  the  spiritual 
lineage  of  every  man  regenerate,  and  attainable  by  all  men. 

46.  For,  as  cannot  be  too  clearly  and  forcibly  stated,  be- 
tween the  man  who  becomes  a  Christ,  and  other  men,  there 
is  no  difference  whatever  of  kind.  The  difference  is  alone 
of  condition  and  degree,  and  consists  in  difference  of  un- 
foldment  of  the  spiritual  nature  possessed  by  all  in  virtue 
of  their  common  derivation.  "  All  things,"  as  has  repeat- 
edly been  said,  "are  made  of  the  divine  Substance."  And 
Humanity  represents  a  stream  which,  taking  its  rise  in  the 
outermost  and  lowest  mode  of  differentiation  of  that  Sub- 
stance, flows  inwards  and  upwards  to  the  highest,  which 
is  God.  And  the  point  at  which  it  reaches  the  celestial, 
and  empties  itself  into  Deity,  is  "Christ."  Any  doctrine 
other  tlian  this — any  doctrine  which  makes  the  Christ  of 
a  different  and  non-human  nature — is  anti-christian  and 
sub-human.  And,  of  such  doctrine  the  direct  effect  is  to 
cut  off  man  altogether  from  access  to  God,  and  God  from 
access  to  man. 

47.  Such  a  doctrine  is  that  which,  representing  the 
Messiah  as  an  incarnated  God  or  Angel  who,  by  the  volun- 


246  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

tary  sacrifice  of  himself,  saves  mankind  from  the  penalty 
due  for  their  sins,  has  distorted  and  obscured  the  true 
doctrine  of  atonement  and  redemption  into  something  alike 
derogatory  to  God  and  pernicious  to  man. 

That  from  wliich  man  requires  to  be  redeemed,  is  not  the 
penalty  of  sin,  but  the  liability  to  sin.  It  is  the  sin,  and  not 
the  suffering,  which  is  his  bane.  The  suffering  is  but  the 
remedial  agent.  And  from  the  liability  to  sin,  and  conse- 
quently to  suffering,  he  can  be  redeemed  only  by  being 
lifted  into  a  condition  in  which  sin  is  impossible  to  him. 
And  no  angel  or  third  person,  but  only  the  man  himself, 
co-operating  with  the  God  within  him,  can  accomplish  this. 
Man  is,  himself,  the  laboratory  wherein  God,  as  Spirit, 
works  to  save  him,  by  re-creating  him  in  God's  image. 
But — as  always  happens  under  a  control  exclusively  sacer- 
dotal— religion  has  been  presented  as  a  way  of  escape,  not 
from  sin,  but  ^rom  pu?nslu/ie7it.  With  redemption  degraded 
to  this  unworthy  and  mischievous  end,  the  world,  has,  as 
was  inevitable,  gone  on  sinning  more  and  more,  and,  by 
the  ever-increasing  grossness  of  its  life  and  thought,  sinking 
itself  deeper  and  deeper  into  IMatter,  violating  persistently, 
on  every  plane  of  existence,  the  divine  law  of  existence, 
until  it  has  lost  the  very  idea  of  Humanity,  and — wholly 
unregenerate  in  Body,  Mind,  Heart,  and  Spirit — has  reached 
the  lowest  depth  of  degradation  compatible  with  existence. 
Thus,  of  modern  society — as  of  Israel  when  reduced, 
through  its  own  wickedness  and  folly,  to  the  like  evil 
plight — it  may  be  said  that  "from  the  sole  of  the  foot 
even  unto  the  head,  there  is  no  soundness  in  it :  but, 
wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores."  And  even 
though  "  the  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint " 
at  the  view  of  its  own  hopeless  theory  of  existence,  it  seeks 
to  *^  revolt  more  and  more  "  by  becoming  increasingly  pro- 


Lect.  viil]  the  redemption.  247 

nounced  in  its  denial  of  Being  as  a  divine  Reality,  and  so 
does  its  utmost  to  "bring  upon  itself  swift  destruction." 
Such,  to  eyes  in  any  degree  percipient,  is  the  spectacle  pre- 
sented by  the  world  in  this  *' Year  of  Grace/'  1881. 

48.  As  it  was  no  part  of  the  design  of  the  Gospels  to 
represent  the  whole  course  of  the  Man  Regenerate,  so 
neither  was  it  a  part  of  that  design  to  provide,  in  respect 
of  religious  life  and  doctrine,  a  system  whole  and  complete 
independently  of  any  which  had  preceded  it.  Having  a 
special  relation  to  the  Heart  and  Spirit  of  the  Man,  and 
thereby  to  the  nucleus  of  the  cell  and  the  Holy  of  Holies 
of  the  Tabernacle,  Christianity,  in  its  original  conception, 
relegated  the  regeneration  of  the  Mind  and  Body — the 
covered  House  and  open  Court  of  the  Tabernacle,  or 
exterior  dualism  of  the  Microcosm — to  systems  already 
existent  and  widely  known  and  practised.  These  systems 
were  two  in  number,  or  rather  were  as  two  modes  or 
expressions  of  the  one  system,  the  establishment  of  which 
constituted  the  "  Message  "  which  preceded  Christianity  by 
the  cyclical  period  of  six  hundred  years.  This  was  the 
Message  of  which  the  "Angels"  were  represented  in  the 
Buddha  Gautama  and  Pythagoras.  Of  these  two  nearly 
contemporary  prophets  and  redeemers,  the  system  was, 
both  in  doctrine  and  in  practice,  essentially  one  and  the 
same.  And  their  relation  to  the  system  of  Jesus,  as  its 
necessary  pioneers  and  forerunners,  finds  recognition  in  the 
Gospels  under  the  allegory  of  the  Transfiguration.  For 
the  forms  beheld  in  this— of  Moses  and  Elias — are  the 
Hebrew  correspondences  of  Buddha  and  Pythagoras. 
And  they  are  described  as  beheld  by  the  three  Apostles  in 
whom  respectively  are  typified  the  functions  severally  ful- 
filled by  Pythagoras,  Buddha,  and  Jesus;  namely,  Works, 


148  THE  PERFECT  WA'i, 

Understanding,  and  Love,  or  Body,  Mind,  and  Heart. 
And  by  their  association  on  the  Mount  is  denoted  the 
junction  of  all  three  elements,  and  the  completion  of  the 
whole  system  comprising  them,  in  Jesus  as  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Heart  or  Innermost,  and  as  in  a  special  sense 
the  "  beloved  Son  of  God." 

49.  Christianity,  then,  was  introduced  into  the  world  with 
a  special  relation  to  the  great  religions  of  the  East,  and 
under  the  same  divine  control.  And  so  far  from  being 
intended  as  a  rival  and  supplanter  of  Buddhism,  it  was  the 
direct  and  necessary  sequel  to  that  system ;  and  the  two  are 
but  parts  of  one  continuous,  harmonious  whole,  whereof  the 
later  division  is  but  the  indispensable  supplement  and  com- 
plement of  the  earlier.  Buddha  and  Jesus  are,  therefore, 
necessary  the  one  to  the  other ;  and  in  the  whole  system 
thus  completed,  Buddha  is  the  Mind,  and  Jesus  is  the 
Heart;  Buddha  is  the  general,  Jesus  is  the  particular; 
Buddha  is  the  brother  of  the  universe,  Jesus  is  the  brother 
of  men ;  Buddha  is  Philosophy,  Jesus  is  Religion ;  Buddha 
is  the  Circumference,  Jesus  is  the  Within ;  Buddha  is  the 
System,  Jesus  is  the  Point  of  Radiation;  Buddha  is  the 
Manifestation,  Jesus  is  the  Spirit;  in  a  word,  Buddha  is 
the  "Man,"  Jesus  is  the  "Woman."  But  for  Buddha, 
Jesus  could  not  have  been,  nor  would  he  have  sufficed  the 
whole  man ;  for  the  man  must  have  the  Mind  illuminated 
before  the  Affections  can  be  kindled.  Nor  would  Buddha 
have  been  complete  without  Jesus.  Buddha  completed 
the  regeneration  of  the  Mind;  and  by  his  doctrine  and 
practice  men  are  prepared  for  the  grace  which  comes  by 
Jesus.  Wherefore  no  man  can  be,  properly.  Christian,  who 
is  not  also,  and  first,  Buddhist.  Thus  the  two  religions 
constitute,  respectively,  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the 
same  Gospel,  the  foundation  bemg  in  Buddhism — the  term 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  249 

including  Pythagoreariism — and  the  illumination  in  Christi- 
anity. And  as  without  Christianity  Buddhism  is  incom- 
plete, so  without  Buddhism  Christianity  is  unintelligible. 
The  Regenerate  Man  of  the  Gospels  stands  upon  the 
foundation  represented  by  Buddha,  the  earher  stages,  that 
is,  of  the  same  process  of  regeneration,  so  that  without 
these  he  would  be  impossible.  Hence  the  significance, 
already  explained,  of  the  Baptist's  part 

50.  The  term  Buddha,  moreover,  signifies  the  Word. 
And  the  Buddha  and  the  Christ  represent,  though  on  dif- 
ferent planes,  the  same  divine  Logos  or  Reason,  and  are 
joint  expressions  of  the  "Message"  which,  in  preceding 
cycles  had  been  preached  by  "Zoroaster" — the  Swi-star — 
as  well  as  by  Moses,  and  typified  in  Mithras,  Osiris,  and 
Krishna.  Of  all  these  the  doctrine  was  one  and  the  same, 
for  it  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Man  Regenerate,  even  the 
"Gospel  of  Christ."  It  was,  thus,  the  treasure — beyond 
all  other  priceless — of  which  Israel,  fleeing,  "spoiled  the 
Egyptians ; "  of  which,  that  is,  the  soul,  escaping  the  power 
of  the  body,  retains  the  possession,  having  gained  it  through 
its  experience  in  the  body.  That  Buddha,  great  as  was 
his  "Renunciation,"  underwent  no  such  extremity  of  ordeal 
as  that  ascribed  to  his  counterpart  of  the  Gospels,  is  due 
to  the  difference  of  the  parts  enacted,  and  the  stages  at- 
tained, by  them.  Suffering  is  not  of  the  mind,  but  of  the 
heart.  And  whereas,  of  their  joint  system,  Buddha  repre- 
sents the  intellect,  and  Jesus  represents  the  affections; — 
in  Jesus,  as  its  highest  typical  expression  of  the  love- 
element.  Humanity  fulfils  the  injunction,  "My  son,  give 
me  thine  heart."i 

*  This  relation  between  the  two  systems,  and  the  necessity  of  each 
to  the  other,  have  found  recognition  among  the  Buddhists  themselves. 
Of  this,  one  instance  which  may  be  cited,  is  that  of  a  Cingalese  chief 


ISO  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

51.  Since  of  the  spiritual  union  in  the  one  faith  of 
Buddha  and  Christ,  will  be  born  the  world's  coming  re- 
demption, the  relations  between  the  two  peoples  through 
whom,  on  the  physical  plane,  this  union  must  be  effected, 
become  a  subject  of  special  interest  and  importance. 
Viewed  from  this  aspect,  the  connection  subsisting  between 
England  and  India  rises  from  the  sphere  political  to  the 
sphere  spiritual.  As  typical  peoples  of  the  West  and  of  the 
East,  of  the  races  light  and  dark,  these  two,  as  represen- 
tative Man  and  Woman  of  Humanity,  will  in  due  time 
constitute  one  Man,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  regenerate 
and  having  power.  And  so  shall  the  "  lightning  from  the 
East,"  after  "illuminating  the  West,"  be  reflected  back, 
purified  and  enhanced,  "  a  light  to  lighten  all  nations  and  to 
be  the  glory  of  the  spiritual  Israel."  Thus,  then,  in  Christ 
Jesus  the  holy  systems  of  the  past  find  their  maturity  and 
perfectionment.  For  by  Christ  is  made  possible  the  gift  of 
the  Divine  Spirit — the  "  Paraclete  "  — who  could  not  come 
by  Pythagoras  nor  by  Buddha,  because  these  represent  the 
outer  elements  of  the  Microcosm;  and  the  Nucleolus,  or 
Spirit,  can  be  manifest  only  in  the  inner  element,  or 
Nucleus,  of  which  Jesus  is  the  representative.  And  thus, 
as  said  in  Genesis  xv.  16,  "in  the  fourth  generation,"  shall 
the  spiritual  seed  of  Abraham,  or  Brahma — for  they  are 
one  and  the  same  word  and  denote  one  and  the  same 
doctrine — "return"  to  the  promised  land  of  their  inherit- 
ance; and,  as  said  by  Jesus,  "many  shall  come  from  the 

who  had  sent  his  son  to  a  Christian  school ;  and  who,  on  finding  his 
consistency  called  in  question  by  a  Christian,  replied  that  the  two 
religions  were  to  each  other  as  the  canoe  of  his  country,  and  the  con- 
trivance— called  an  outrigger — by  means  of  which,  when  afloat,  it 
is  kept  upright.  "  I  add  on,"  he  said,  "your  religion  to  my  own,  for 
I  consider  Christianity  a  very  good  outrigger  to  Buddhism." — Tennant's 
Ceylon. 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  251 

East  and  West,  and   shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

52.  For,  as  the  "three,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job"  were 
for  the  Hebrews,  types  of  Righteousness,  so  the  three, 
"  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  "  were  types  of  Truth,  pro- 
genitors of  the  spiritual  Israel,  and  representatives  of  the 
several  sacred  mysteries  of  whose  "  kingdom "  the  Man 
Regenerate  is  always,  and  the  world  regenerate  will  be 
ultimately,  by  adoption  and  grace,  the  inheritor.  The 
mysteries  specially  denoted  by  "  Abraham "  are,  as  just 
indicated,  those  of  India.  They  are  the  mysteries  of  the 
Spirit,  or  Innermost,  and  are  sacred  to  the  Supreme  Being, 
Brahma,  who  represents  Deity  under  process  of  self-mani- 
festation and,  therefore,  in  activity.  In  this  process,  the 
Original  Being,  Brahm,  becomes  Brahma ;  God  becomes 
the  Lord,  the  Manifestor.  And  it  is  in  recognition  of 
this  change,  that  Abram  becomes  Abraham.  The  history 
of  this  personage,  his  flight, — always  an  invariable  element 
in  such  histories,  as  witness  that  of  Bacchus,  of  Israel,  of 
the  Holy  Family,  of  Mohammed,  and  others, — his  adven- 
tures and  wanderings,  is  the  history  of  the  migration  of  the 
mysteries  of  India,  by  way  of  Chaldaea,  to  that  divinely- 
selected  centre  and  pivot  of  all  true  religions,  Egypt, — a 
term  denoting  the  body,  which  itself  is  the  divinely-ap- 
pointed residence  of  the  soul  during  its  term  of  probation.^ 

*  In  accordance  with  Hindu  usage,  which  makes  the  masculine  the 
passive,  and  the  feminine  the  active  principle  of  existence,  the  mysteries 
are  represented  by  the  wives  of  the  divine  persons.  Thus,  of  Brahma 
the  ?.ctive  principle  is  his  wife  Sa7'aszaati,  after  whom  the  wife  of 
Abraham,  who  is  also  his  active  principle,  is  called  Sara,  '*  the  Lady," 
meaning,  of  heaven.  The  story  of  the  long  courtship  and  two  wives  of 
Jacob,  is  a  parable  of  initiation  into  the  mysteries,  lesser  and  greater. 
And  the  finding  of  the  wife  of  Isaac  at  a  well — like  the  finding  of  Moses 
in  a  river  by  the  king's  daughter — indicates  the  woman,  or  soul,  as  the 
agent   of    intuition,  and   thereby   of  initiation  and  redemption.     The 


tS2  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

The  next  great  order  of  mysteries  refers  to  the  soul,  and 
is  sacred  to  Isis,  the  goddess  of  the  intuition,  and  "Mother" 
of  the  Christ.  These  mysteries  were,  for  the  Israelites, 
represented  by  Isaac,  a  name  occultly  connected  with  Isis 
and  Jesus,  as  also  with  that  of  an  important  personage  in  the 
pedigree  of  this  last,  namely  Jesse,  the  "  father  of  David," 
and  a  "  keeper  of  sheep."  The  third  and  remaining  great 
order  of  the  mysteries — that  which  refers  to  the  body, 
and  which  early  migrated  to  Greece— is  sacred  to 
Bacchus,  whose  mystic  name  lacchos  is  identical  with  Jacob, 
Comprising  the  three  great  divisions  of  existence,  and  by 
implication  the  fourth  division  also,  these  three  combined 
orders  of  mysteries  formed,  in  the  original  conception  of 
Christianity,  a  system  of  doctrine  and  life  at  once  complete, 
harmonious,  and  sufficient  for  all  needs  and  aspirations  of 
humanity,  both  here  and  hereafter.  And  to  this  effect  were 
the  terms  ascribed  to  Jesus  in  his  reply  to  the  inquiries 
made  of  him  touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For, 
passing  over  the  actual  question,  and  coming  at  once  to  its 
mystic  sense,  he  made  a  reply  which  referred,  at  least 
primarily,  not  to  the  individuals  themselves  who  had  been 
named,  but  to  the  systems  implied  in  their  names ;  and 
declaring  those  systems  to  be  as  full  of  vitality,  and  as 
essential  to  salvation,  as  when  first  divinely  communicated 
to  Moses  in  the  words :  *'  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and 
the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob,"  he  added  that 
"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living." 
Wherefore,  according  to  this  and  the  concurrent  prophecy 
quoted  above,  these  mysteries — which  are  at  once  Hindi!, 
Chaldaean,  Persian,   Egyptian,   Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Chris- 

"Haran"  and  **  Ur"  from  which  Abram  comes,  denote  the  place  of 
spiritual  light ;  and  the  pedigrees  imply  primarily,  not  persons,  but 
spiritual  states. 


Lect.  VIII.]  THE  REDEMPTION.  253 

tian — will,  restored  to  their  original  purity,  constitute  the 
controlling  doctrine  of  the  ages  to  come. 

53.  In  this  forecast  of  the  now  imminent  future  is  to  be 
found  the  clue  to  the  world's  spiritual  politics.  Transferred 
from  the  mystical  to  the  mundane  plane,  the  "  kings  of  the 
East "  are  they  who  hold  political  sovereignty  over  the  pro- 
vinces of  Hindustan.  On  the  personal  plane  the  title 
implies  those  who  possess  the  "  magical "  knowledge,  or 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Spirit,  to  have  which  is  to  be 
Magian.  In  both  these  senses  the  title  henceforth  belongs 
to  us.  Of  one  of  the  chief  depositaries  of  this  magical 
knowledge — the  Bible — our  country  has  long  been  the 
foremost  guardian  and  champion.  For  three  centuries  and 
a  half — a  period  suggestive  of  the  mystic  "  time,  times,  and 
half  a  time,"  and  also  of  the  "  year  of  years  "  ot  the  solar 
hero  Enoch — has  Britain  lovingly  and  faithfully,  albeit  un- 
intelligently,  cherished  the  Letter  which  now,  by  the  finding 
of  the  interpretation,  is— like  its  prototype — "  translated  " 
to  the  plane  of  the  Spirit.  Possessing  thus  the  Gnosis,  in 
substance  as  well  as  in  form,  our  country  will  be  fitted  for 
the  loftier,  because  spiritual,  sovereignty  to  which  she  is 
destined,  and  one  which  will  outlast  her  material  empire. 
For,  finding  then  that  they  are  essentially  one  as  to  faith 
and  hope,  even  though  diverse  in  respect  of  accidentals,  the 
East  and  the  West  will  be  one  in  heart  and  aim,  and  to- 
gether beget  as  their  joint  offspring  the  philosophy,  morality, 
and  religion,  in  a  word,  the  Humanity,  of  the  future.  All, 
therefore,  that  tends  to  bind  England  to  the  Orient  is 
of  Christ,  and  all  that  tends  to  sever  them  is  of  Antichrist. 
They  who  seek  to  wed  Buddha  to  Jesus  are  of  the  celestial 
and  upper ;  and  they  who  interpose  to  forbid  the  banns  are 
of  the  astral  and  nether.  Between  the  two  hemispheres 
stand  the  domain  and  faith  of  Islam,  not  to  divide,  but,  as 


254  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

umbilical  cord,  to  unite  them.  And  nought  is  there  in 
Islamism  to  hinder  its  fuliilment  of  this  high  function,  and 
keep  it  from  being  a  partaker  of  the  blessings  to  result 
therefrom.  For,  not  only  is  it  the  one  really  monotheistic 
and  non-idolatrous  religion  now  existing ;  but  its  symbolic 
Star  and  Crescent  are  essentially  one  with  the  Cross  of 
Christ,  in  that  they  also  typify  the  elements  masculine  and 
feminine  of  the  divine  existence,  and  the  relation  of  the 
soul  to  God.  So  that  Islamism  has  but  to  accomplish  that 
other  stage  of  its  natural  evolution,  which  will  enable  it 
to  claim  an  equal  place  in  the  brotherhood  of  the  Elect. 
This  is  the  practical  recognition  in  "Allah"  of  Mother  as 
well  as  of  Father,  by  the  exaltation  of  the  woman  to  her 
rightful  station  on  all  planes  of  man's  manifold  nature. 
This  accomplished,  Esau  and  Ishmael  will  be  joined  to- 
gether with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  Christ. 

54.  In  this  recognition  of  the  divine  idea  of  humanity, 
and  its  ultimate  results,  will  consist  what  are  called  the 
"  Second  Advent  and  millennial  reign  of  Christ."  Of  that 
advent — although  described  as  resembling  the  coming  of 
a  thief  in  the  night — the  approach  will  not  be  unheeded. 
For,  even  in  the  darkest  of  spiritual  nights,  there  are  always 
on  the  alert  some  who,  as  faithful  shepherds,  keep  constant 
watch  over  the  flocks  of  their  own  pure  hearts,  and  who, 
"  living  the  life,  know  of  the  doctrine."  And  these,  "  dwell- 
ing by  the  well  of  clear  vision,"  and  ''discerning  the  signs  of 
the  times,"  perceive  already  the  mustering  of  the  heavenly 
hosts,  and  the  bright  streamers  of  dawning  of  the  long 
wished-for  better  Day.^ 

»  See  Appendices,  Nos.  V.,  VI.,  and  VII. 


LECTURE  THE  NINTH. 
GOD  AS  THE  LORD;  OR,   THE  DIVINE  IMAGE* 

Part  I. 

I.  All  sacred  books,  of  whatever  people,  concur  in  adopting 
in  respect  of  the  Deity  two  apparently  opposite  and  anta- 
gonistic modes  of  expression.  According  to  one  of  these 
modes,  the  Divine  Being  is  external,  universal,  diffused, 
unformulated,  indefinable,  and  altogether  inaccessible  and 
beyond  perception.  According  to  the  other,  the  Divine 
Being  is  near,  particular,  definite,  formulated,  personified, 
discernible,  and  readily  accessible.  Thus,  on  the  one 
hand  it  is  said  that  God  is  the  high  and  holy  One  that 
inhabiteth  eternity,  and  is  past  finding  out ;  that  no  man 
hath  seen  God  at  any  time,  neither  heard  God's  voice,  or 
can  see  God  and  live.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
declared  that  God  has  been  heard  and  beheld  face  to  face, 
and  is  nigh  to  all  who  call  upon  God,  being  within  their 
hearts  j  and  that  the  knowledge  of  God  is  not  only  the  one 
knowledge  worth  having,  but  that  it  is  open  to  all  who 
seek  for  it ;  and  the  pure  in  heart  are  promised,  as  their 
supreme  reward,  that  they  shall  "  see  God." 

2.  Numerous  instances,  moreover,  are  recorded  of  the 
actual  sensible  vision  of  God.  Of  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
Isaiah  says  that  he  saw  the  Lord  "  high  and  lifted  up ; " 
Ezekiel,  that  he  beheld  the  "glory  of  tlie  God  of  Israel "  as 
a  figure  of  fire ;  Daniel,  that  he  beheld  God  as  a  human 


256  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

form,  enthroned  in  flame ;  and  John  records  in  the  Apo- 
calypse a  similar  vision.  The  writers  of  the  book  of  Exodus 
show  their  cognisance  of  such  experiences  by  ascribing  the 
vision  not  only  to  Moses,  but  to  the  whole  of  the  elders  and 
leaders  of  Israel,  in  all,  seventy-four  persons.  And  of  these 
many  are  represented  as  competent  to  receive  it  in  virtue 
of  their  own  unaided  faculties.  For,  by  the  statement  that 
"upon  the  nobles  Moses  laid  not  his  hands,"  it  is  imphed 
that  their  own  spiritual  condition  was  such  that  they  needed 
no  aid  from  the  magnetism  of  the  great  hierarch  their  chief. 
The  sight  of  the  "  God  of  Israel  "  on  this  occasion  is 
described  as  like  that  of  "a  devouring  fire." 

3.  Among  similar  experiences  related  in  other  Scriptures 
is  that  in  the  Bhagavat  Gita^  wherein  the  "  Lord  Krishna  " 
exhibits  to  the  gaze  of  Arjun  his  "supreme  and  heavenly 
form  "  "  shining  on  all  sides  with  light  immeasurable,  like 
the  sun  a  thousand-fold,"  and  "  containing  in  his  breast  all 
the  Gods,  or  Powers,  masculine  and  feminine,  of  the 
Universe." 

4  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  difference  of  the  two  natures 
thus  described,  the  Scriptures  regard  both  as  appertaining 
to  one  and  the  same  Divine  Being ;  and,  combining  the 
names  characteristic  of  both,  declare  that  the  Lord  is  God, 
and  God  is  the  Lord,  and  appoint  the  compound  term 
Lord-God  as  the  proper  designation  of  Deity. 

5.  Besides  the  title  Lord,  many  various  names  are 
applied  to  Deity  as  subsisting  under  this  mode.  In  the 
Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  these  names  are  Jehovah, 
El  Shaddai,  the  Logos,  the  Ancient  of  Days,  Alpha  and 
Omega,  Son  of  God,  the  Only  Begotten,  Adonai.  The 
Hindus  have  Brahma,  and  also  Ardha-Nari, — identical  with 
Adonai.  The  Persians,  Ormuzd ;  the  Egyptians,  Ra,  or 
the  Sun ;  the  Greeks,  the  Demiourgos  \   the  Kabbala  has 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  2S7 

Adam  Kadmon  ;  and  some  later  mystics  employ  the  term 
"  Grand  Man." 

6.  Of  these  last  the  most  notable,  Emmanual  Sweden- 
borg,  asserts  the  vision  to  be  a  fact  in  respect  of  the  angels, 
— whom  he  claims  as  his  informants, — saying  that  the  Lord 
is  God  manifested  in  the  universe  as  a  man,  and  is  thus 
beheld,  interiorly,  by  the  angels.  (^Divine  Love  and  Wis- 
dom^ 97,  etc.,  etc.) 

7.  Swedenborg,  however,  identifies  the  Lord  who  is  thus 
discerned  with  the  historical  Jesus,  maintaining  the  latter  to 
be  very  Deity,  Jehovah  in  person,  who  assumed  a  fleshly 
body,  and  manifested  Himself  as  a  man,  in  order  to  save 
men  from  hell,  and  commanded  His  disciples  to  call  Him 
Lord.  {True  Christian  Religion^  37°^  D.  L.  and  W.^  282, 
etc.,  etc.)  Swedenborg  herein  falls  into  the  common  error 
of  confounding  "^//r  Lord  "  with  "  the  Lord,"  the  Christ  in 
the  man  with  Adonai  in  the  heavens,  of  whom  the  former  is 
the  counterpart ; — an  error  due  to  his  failure  to  recognise 
the  distinction  between  the  manifest  and  the  unmanifest, 
and  between  the  microcosmic  and  the  macrocosmic  deity.i 

^  In  his  presentation  of  the  Incarnation,  Swedenborg  is  at  variance, 
not  only  with  the  Gnosis,  but  with  himself.  For  in  it  he  sets  aside  the 
canon  of  interpretation  formulated  by  himself,  his  recovery  and  general 
application  of  which — together  with  the  doctrine  of  correspondence — 
constitute  his  chief  merit.  Thus,  to  cite  his  own  words  : — *'  In  the 
internal  sense  there  is  no  respect  to  any  person,  or  anything  determined 
to  a  person.  But  there  are  three  things  which  disappear  from  the 
sense  of  the  letter  of  the  Word,  when  the  internal  sense  is  unfolded  ; 
that  which  is  of  time,  that  which  is  of  space,  and  that  which  is  of  per- 
son." "  T^e  Word  is  written  by  mere  correspondence,  and  hence  all 
its  contents,  to  the  most  minute,  signify  things  heavenly  and  spiritual" 
{Arcana  Ccelestia,  5253  and  1401).  He  also  repeatedly  declares  that 
the  literal  sense  of  the  Word  is  rarely  the  truth,  but  only  the  appearance 
of  the  truth,  and  that  to  take  the  literal  sense  for  the  true  one  is  to 
destroy  the  truth  itself,  since  everything  in  it  relates  to  the  heavenly  and 
spiritual,  and  becomes  falsified  when  transferred  to  a  lower  plane  by 
being  taken  literally  (see  e.g.  T.  C.  A\,  254,  258,  etc.).  According 
both  to  this  rule  and  the  Gnosis,  that  which  is  implied  by  the  term 

5 


258  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

8.  In  "the  Lord**  the  Formless  assumes  a  form,  the 
Nameless  a  name,  the  Infinite  the  definite,  and  these 
human.  But,  although  "  the  Lord  is  God  manifested  as  a 
man "  in  and  to  the  souls  of  those  to  whom  the  vision  is 
vouchsafed,  it  is  not  as  man  in  the  exclusive  sense  of  the 
term  and  masculine  only,  but  as  man  both  masculine  and 
feminine,  at  once  man  and  woman,  as  is  Humanity  itself. 
The  Lord  is  God  manifested  in  substance,  and  is  dual  in 
form  because  Deity,  though  one  in  essence,  and  statically, 
is  twofold  in  operation,  or  dynamically.  And  the  vision  of 
Deity  under  a  definite  form,  dual  and  human, — or  androgy- 
nous, though  not  as  ordinarily  apprehended, — has  been 
universal  and  persistent  from  the  beginning ;  and  this,  not 
as  a  conception  merely  mental  and  "  subjective,"  but  as  a 
perception  objective  to  an  interior  faculty,  in  that  it  is 
actually  beheld.  Hence  it  is  that,  in  terms  employed  to 
denote  Deity,  both  sexes  are  expressed  or  implied;  and 
where  one  sex  only  is  designated,  it  is  not  because   the 

Incarnation  is  an  event  purely  spiritual  in  its  nature,  potential  in  all 
men,  and  of  perpetual  occurrence,  inasmuch  as  it  takes  place  in  every 
regenerate  man,  being  at  once  the  cause  and  effect  of  his  regeneration. 
The  authority  twice  cited  by  Swedenborg  {T.  C.  R.,  102  and  827) 
in  support  of  his  doctrine, — namely,  an  apparition  professing  to  be  the 
spirit  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus, — is  one  which  a  duly  instructed  occultist 
would,  at  the  least,  have  hesitated  to  regard  as  aught  but  a  projection 
of  his  own  magnetic  aura,  and  as  merely  a  mechanical  reflect,  there- 
fore, of  his  own  thought.  Swedenborg  had  learned  little  or  r.othing 
from  books,  was  ignorant  of  any  system  other  than  the  Christian,  and 
also  of  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  Christian  symbology,  and  trusted 
for  his  information  entirely  to  his  own  faculty  ;  and  this,  extraordinary 
as  it  was,  was  allied  to  a  temperament  too  cold  and  unsympathetic  to 
generate  the  enthusiasm  by  which  alone  the  topmost  heights  of  per- 
ception and  inmost  core  of  the  consciousness  can  be  attained.  Never- 
theless, despite  his  limitations,  vSwedenborg  was  beyond  question  the 
foremost  herald  and  initiator  of  the  new  era  opening  in  the  spiritual 
life  of  Christendom,  and  no  student  of  religion  can  dispense  with  a 
knowledge  of  him.  Only,  he  must  be  read  with  much  discrimination 
and  patience. 


Lect.  IX. J  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  259 

other  is  wanting,  but  because  it  is  latent.  And  hence  it  is 
also,  that,  in  order  to  be  made  in  the  image  of  God,  the 
individual  must  comprise  within  himself  the  qualities  mascu- 
line and  feminine  of  existence,  and  be,  spiritually,  both 
man  and  woman.  Man  is  perfect  only  when  the  whole 
humanity  is  manifested  in  him  ;  and  this  occurs  only  when 
the  whole  Spirit  of  Humanity — that  is  God— is  manifested 
through  him.  Thus  manifesting  Himself,  God,  as  the  book 
of  Genesis  says,  ''creates  man  in  His  own  Image,  Male  and 
Female." 

9.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  all  Hermetic  Scriptures.  And 
when  it  is  said — as  of  the  Kabbala — that  these  Scriptures 
were  delivered  by  God  first  of  all  to  Adam  in  Paradise, 
and  then  to  Moses  on  Sinai,  it  is  meant  that  the  doctrine 
contained  in  them  is  that  which  man  always  discerns  when 
he  succeeds  in  attaining  to  that  inner  and  celestial  region 
of  his  nature  where  he  is  taught  directly  of  his  own  Divine 
Spirit,  and  knows  even  as  he  is  known.  The  attainment  of 
this  divine  knowledge  constitutes  existence  a  paradise.  And 
it  is  symbolised  by  the  ascent  of  a  mountain,  variously 
designated  Nyssa,  Sinai,  Sion,  Olivet.  Peculiar  to  no  par- 
ticular period  or  place,  the  power  to  receive  this  knowledge 
is  dependent  entirely  upon  condition.  And  the  condition 
is  that  of  the  understanding.  Man  attains  to  the  Image 
of  God  in  proportion  as  he  comprehends  the  nature  of 
God.  Such  knowledge  constitutes,  of  itself,  transmuta- 
tion. For  man  is  that  which  he  knows.  And  he  knows 
only  that  which  he  is.  Wherefore  the  recognition,  first  of 
God  as  the  Lord,  and  next  of  the  Lord  as  the  divine 
Humanity,  constitutes  at  once  the  means  of  salvation  and 
salvation  itself.  This  is  the  truth  which  makes  free, — the 
supreme  mystery,  called  by  Paul  the  "mystery  of  godliness." 
And  it  is  by  their  relegation  of  this  mystery  to  the  category 


26o  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

of  the  incomprehensible,  that  the  priesthoods  have  barred 
to  man  the  way  of  redemption.  They  have  directed  him, 
indeed,  to  a  Macrocosmic  God  subsisting  exteriorly  to  man, 
and  having  a  nature  altogether  different  from  man's,  and 
to  a  heaven  remote  and  inaccessible.  But  they  have  sup- 
pressed altogether  the  Microcosmic  God  and  the  kingdom 
within,  and  have  blotted  the  Lord  and  his  true  image  out 
of  all  recognition.  Now  the  main  distinction  between  the 
uninitiate  and  the  initiate,  between  the  man  who  does  not 
know  and  the  man  who  does  know,  lies  in  this  : — For  the 
one,  God,  if  subsisting  at  all,  is  wholly  without.  For  the 
other,  God  is  both  within  and  without ;  and  the  God  within 
is  all  that  the  God  without  is. 

lo.  It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated,  that  the  defini- 
tion which  sets  forth  Mystery  as  something  inconsistent 
with  or  contradictory  of  sense  and  reason,  is  a  wrong  defi- 
nition, and  one  in  the  highest  degree  pernicious.  In  its 
true  signification.  Mystery  means  only  that  which  appei 
tains  to  a  region  of  which  the  external  sense  and  reason 
are  unable  to  take  cognisance.  It  is,  thus,  the  doctrine  of 
Spirit  and  of  the  experiences  connected  therewith.  Ana 
inasmuch  as  the  spiritual  is  the  within  and  source  of  the 
phenomenal,  so  far  from  any  doctrine  of  Spirit  contradicting 
and  stultifying  the  experiences  and  conclusions  of  the  ex- 
ternal faculties,  it  corrects  and  interprets  them ; — precisely 
as  does  reason  correct  and  interpret  the  sensible  impression 
of  the  earth's  immobility,  and  of  the  diurnal  revolution  of 
the  skies.  That,  therefore,  which  the  degradation  of  the 
term  Mystery  to  mean  something  incomprehensible,  really 
represents,  is  the  loss  by  the  priesthoods  of  the  faculty  of 
comprehension.  Declining,  through  "  idolatry,"  from  the 
standard  once  attained  by  them,  and  losing  the  power 
either  to  discern  or  to  interpret  Substance,  the  Churches 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  261 

abandoned  the  true  definition  of  Mystery  which  referred 
it  to  things  transcending  the  outer  sense  and  reason,  and 
adopted  a  definition  implying  something  contradictory  of 
all  sense  and  reason.  Thenceforth,  so  far  from  fulfiUing 
their  proper  function  of  supplying  man  with  the  wholesome 
"  bread "  of  a  perfect  system  of  thought,  they  gave  him 
instead  the  indigestible  "  stones "  of  dogmas  altogether 
unthinkable ;  and  for  the  "  fish," — or  interior  mysteries  of 
the  soul, — the  "  serpents,"  or  illusory  reflects,  of  the  astral. 
Reduced  by  this  act  to  a  choice  between  the  suicide  of  an 
absolute  surrender  of  the  reason,  and  open  revolt,  the  world 
adopted  the  lesser  of  the  two  evils.  And  this  both  rightly 
and  of  necessity.  For  man  neither  ought  if  he  could,  nor 
can  if  he  would,  suppress  his  reason.  And  now  the 
Churches,  having  lost  the  cognition  of  Spirit,  and  sup- 
pressed the  faculty  whereby  alone  it  could  be  attained,  are 
absolutely  without  a  system  of  Thought  wherewith  to 
oppose  the  progress  of  that  fatal  system  of  No-thought 
which  is  fast  engulfing  the  world.  And  so  profound  is  the 
despair  which  reigns  even  in  the  highest  ranks  of  Ecclesi- 
asticism,  as  recently,  from  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
members,  to  elicit  the  confession  that  he  saw  no  hope  for 
Religion  save  in  a  new  Revelation.^ 

Part  II. 

II.  It  is  necessary  to  devote  a  brief  space  to  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  ancient  and  true  doctrine  in  respect  of  the  place 
and  value  of  the  Understanding  in  things  religious.  For 
so  we  shall  both  further  minister  to  the  rehabilitation  of  this 
supreme  faculty,  and  exhibit  the  extent  to  which  sacerdo- 
talism has  departed  from  the  right   course.     Mention  has 

*  Related  of  Cardinal  Newman,  on  his  investiture  at  Rome. 


262  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

already  been  made  of  Hermes  as  the  ''trainer  of  the 
Christs."  The  phrase  is  of  a  kind  with  those  more  familiar 
phrases  which  describe  Christ  as  the  "  Son  of  David  "  and 
as  the  *'  Seed  of  the  Woman "  ;  and,  in  short,  with  all 
statements  respecting  the  genealogy  of  the  Christ,  including 
the  declaration  that  the  Rock  on  which  the  Church  of 
Christ  is  built  is  the  Understanding.  For  of  all  such 
statements  the  meaning  is,  that  the  doctrine  represented 
by  the  term  Christ — so  far  from  being  a  Mystery,  in  the 
sacerdotal  sense — is  a  truth  necessary  and  self-evident, 
and  requiring  for  its  discernment  as  such,  only  the  full 
and  free  exercise  of  Thought.  Now,  this  term  Thought  is 
no  other  than  the  name  of  the  Egyptian  equivalent  of 
Hermes,  the  God  Thaut^  frequently  written  Thoth  ;  these 
being  for  the  Greeks  and  Egyptians  respectively  the  Divine 
Intelligence  in  its  dynamic  condition.  It  has  already  been 
stated  that  in  the  Celestial  all  properties  and  qualities  are 
Persons,  the  fact  being  that  it  is  always  in  the  guise  of 
a  person  that  the  Divine  Spirit  of  a  man  holds  intercourse 
with  him,  the  mode  adopted  on  the  occasion  corresponding 
to  the  function  to  be  exercised.  Thoth  and  Hermes  are, 
then,  names  expressive  of  the  personality  assumed  by  the 
supreme  Nous  of  the  Microcosm  when  operating  especially 
as  the  Intelligence  or  Understanding.  In  different  nations, 
while  the  function  is  the  same,  the  name  and  form  vary 
according  to  the  genius  of  the  people.  Thus,  to  a  Hebrew 
the  same  Spirit  becomes  manifest  as  Raphael.  In  the 
Bhagavat-Gita  the  Supreme  Being,  speaking  as  the  Lord 
(Krishna),  declares  that  he  himself  is  the  Spirit  of  Under- 
standing. As  the  parent  Spirit — the  Nous,  or  divine  Mind 
— is  God,  so  the  product  Thought,  or  the  "  Word"  as  a 
Son  of  God,  is  also  God.  Nor  does  the  Divine  procession 
cease  at  the  first  generatioiL     For,  whereas  of  such  Divine 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  263 

Word  the  Christ  is  the  manifestation  "  in  ultimates,"  the 
Christ  also  is  Son  of  God,  and  therefore  God. 

12.  But  not  the  less,  however,  is  "  Christ  "  the  "  Son  of 
David,"  though  not  by  physical  descent — his  line  had  long 
been  extinct — but  in  a  spiritual  sense.  Like  the  patriarchs 
— who  were  therefore  said  to  live  in  concubinage — David 
was  not  "  married  to  the  Spirit,"  but  held  only  occasional 
communion  with  it,  receiving  but  a  measure  of  illumination. 
"  Christ "  implies  full  regeneration  and  illumination.  The 
attainment  of  this  state  is  the  ultimate  aim  of  the  science 
called  Hermetic  and  Alchemic,  the  earliest  formulation  of 
which  is  ascribed  to  the  god  Thoth, — the  Egyptian  equiva- 
lent for  the  Divine  Thought.  Tracking  the  Christ-idea  to 
this  source,  we  have  a  yet  further — though  still  but  a 
secondary— signification  for  the  saying,  "  Out  of  Egypt  hast 
thou  called  thy  Son." 

13.  One  of  the  most  general  symbols  of  the  Understand- 
ing, and  of  its  importance  in  the  work  of  regeneration,  has 
always  been  the  Ram.  Hence  the  frequent  portrayal  of 
the  representative  of  Hermes  and  Thoth  with  a  ram's  head. 
For  by  this  was  denoted  the  power  of  the  faculty  of  which 
the  head  is  the  seat,  the  act  of  butting  with  the  horns  typi- 
fying the  employment  of  the  intellect  whether  for  attack  or 
defence.  The  command  to  cover  the  holy  place  of  the 
Tabernacle  with  a  ram's  fleece,  implied  that  only  to  the 
understanding  were  the  mysteries  of  the  Spirit  accessible. 
The  mighty  walls  of  the  "  Jericho  "  of  Doubt,  are  repre- 
sented as  falling  at  the  sound  of  rams'  horns,  after  being 
"  encompassed  "  during  the  typical  period  of  seven  days. 
The  narrative  of  the  previous  entry— that  of  the  '*  spies  " — 
into  this  stronghold  through  the  agency  of  a  woman,  is 
similarly  designed  to  exalt  the  understanding,  the  direct 
reference  being  to  the  intuition  as  essential  to  the  under- 


264  THE  PERFECT    WAY. 

Standing,  and  therefore  to  the  resolution  of  doubt.  The 
ascription  to  this  woman  of  the  vocation  of  the  Magda- 
len, accords  with  the  mystical  usage  of  regarding  the  soui 
as  impure  during  the  term — necessary  for  her  education 
—of  her  association  with  Matter.  This  finished,  she  be- 
comes "  virgin."  One  of  the  chief  glories  of  Hermes — his 
conquest  of  the  hundred-eyed  Argus — denotes  the  victory 
of  the  understanding  over  fate.  For  Argus  represents  the 
power  of  the  stars  over  the  unenfranchised  souL  Where- 
fore Hera,  the  queen  of  the  astral  spheres  and  persecutrix 
of  the  soul  thus  subject,  is  said  to  have  placed  the  eyes  of 
Argus  in  the  train  of  her  vehicular  bird,  the  peacock. 

14.  The  story  of  the  slaying  of  Goliath  is  a  parable  of 
like  import.  For  Goliath  is  the  formulation  of  the  system 
represented  by  the  "  Philistines," — that  system  of  doubt 
and  denial  which  finds  its  inevitable  outcome  in  Material- 
ism. The  kilhng  of  Goliath  signifies,  thus,  the  discomfiture 
of  Materialism  by  the  Understanding.  And  David,  more- 
over, is  represented — on  arraying  himself  for  the  conflict — 
as  declining  the  *'  king's  weapons,"  or  arms  of  the  exterior 
reason,  and  choosing  "a  smooth  stone  out  of  a  brook"; 
this  being  the  "  philosopher's  stone  "  of  a  pure  spirit,  a  firm 
will,  and  a  clear  perception,  such  as  is  attained  only  through 
the  secret  operation  of  the  soul,  of  which  the  brook  is  the 
emblem.  Such  a  stone,  also,  is  that  which,  "cut  out 
without  hands,"  smites  in  pieces,  as  already  explained,  the 
giant  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  reward  of  David's 
achievement — the  possession  of  the  king's  daughter,  the 
usual  termination  of  such  heroic  adventure — denotes  the 
attainment  by  the  conqueror  of  the  highest  gifts  and  graces  ; 
— the  daughter  of  Saul,  or  the  outer  Reason,  being  the 
inner  Reason,  or  psychic  faculty,  developed  from  the  "  Man," 
and  constituting  the  "Woman"  in  the  man.     Hence  by 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  265 

David's  subsequent  history  in  relation  to  Michal,  is  implied 
a  spiritual  retrogression  on  the  soul's  part. 

15.  Similar  reasons  dictated  the  selection  of  a  dog  as 
specially  sacred  to  Hermes,  and  his  representation  as  the 
dog-headed  Anubis  ;  the  intelligence  and  faithfulness  of  this 
animal  making  it  an  apt  type  of  the  understanding  as  the 
peculiar  friend  of  man.  Raphael — the  Hebrew  equivalent 
of  Hermes,  and  like  him  called  the  "  physician  of  souls  " — 
is  also  represented  as  accompanied  by  a  dog  when  travel- 
ling with  Tobias.  And  the  name  of  the  special  associate 
of  Joshua, — a  name  identical  with  Jesus^ — the  final  leader 
of  the  chosen  people  into  the  promised  land  of  their 
spiritual  perfection, — namely,  Caleb,  signifies  a  dog,  and 
imphes  the  necessity  of  intelligence  to  the  successful  quest 
of  salvation.  For  the  like  reason  were  *'  rams,"  and  the 
"  fat  of  rams,"  used  as  symbolic  terms  to  denote  the  offer- 
ing most  acceptable  to  God.  It  was  intended  by  them 
to  teach  that  man  ought  to  dedicate  to  the  service  of  God 
all  the  powers  of  his  mind  raised  to  their  highest  perfection, 
and  by  no  means  to  ignore  or  suppress  them. 

16.  The  hke  high  rank  is  accorded  to  the  Understanding 
in  all  Hermetic  Scriptures.  For, — as  in  Isaiah  xi.  2, — it  is 
always  placed  second  among  the  seven  Elohim  of  God,  the 
fiist  plaice  being  assigned  to  Wisdom,  which  is  accounted 
as  one  with  Love.  The  same  order  is  observed  in  the 
disposition  of  the  solar  system.  For  Mercury  is  Hermes, 
and  his  planet  is  next  to  the  Sun.  The  ascription,  in  the 
mythologies,  of  a  thievish  disposition  to  this  divinity,  and 
the  legends  which  represent  him  as  the  patron  of  thieves 
and  adventurers,  and  stealing  in  turn  from  all  the  Gods, 
are  modes  of  indicating  the  facility  with  which  the  under- 
standing annexes  everything  and  makes  it  its  own.  For 
Hermes  denotes  that  faculty   of  the  divine  part  in  man 


266  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

which  seeks  and  obtains  meanings  out  of  every  department 
of  existence,  intruding  into  the  province  of  every  "  God," 
and  appropriating  some  portion  of  the  goods  of  each. 
Thus  the  understanding  has  a  finger  upon  all  things,  and 
converts  them  to  its  own  use,  whether  it  be  the  *'  arrows  "  of 
Apollo,  the  "  girdle  "  of  Aphrodite,  the  "  oxen  "  of  Adme- 
tus,  the  "  trident "  of  Poseidon,  or  the  "  tongs  "  of  Hephai- 
stos.  Not  only  is  Hermes — as  already  said — the  rock  on 
which  the  true  Church  is  built;  he  is  also  the  divinity 
under  whose  immediate  control  all  divine  revelations  are 
made,  and  all  divine  achievements  performed.  His  are  the 
rod  of  knowledge  wherewith  all  things  are  measured,  the 
wings  of  courage,  the  sword  of  the  unconquerable  will,  and 
the  cap  of  concealment  or  discretion.  He  is  in  turn  the 
Star  of  the  East,  conducting  the  Magi;  the  Cloud  from 
whose  midst  the  holy  Voice  speaks  ;  by  day  the  pillar  of 
Vapour,  by  night  the  shining  Flame,  leading  the  elect  soul 
on  her  perilous  path  through  the  noisome  wilderness  of  the 
world,  as  she  flies  from  the  Egypt  of  the  Flesh,  and  guiding 
her  in  safety  to  the  promised  heaven.  He,  too,  it  is  who 
is  the  shield  of  saints  in  the  fiery  furnace  of  persecution  or 
affliction,  and  whose  "  form  is  like  the  Son  of  God."  And 
by  him  the  candidate  for  spiritual  knowle  dge  attains  full 
initiation.  For  he  is  also  the  Communicator,  and  without 
him  is  no  salvation.  For,  although  that  which  saves  is 
faith,  that  is  not  faith  which  is  without  understanding. 
Happily  for  the  so-called  "  simple,"  this  understanding  is 
not  necessarily  of  the  outer  man;  it  suffices  for  salvation 
that  the  inner  man  have  it.^ 

17.  "Hermes,   as  the    messenger   of    God,"    says   the 
Neoplatonist  Proclus,  "  reveals  to  us  His  paternal  will,  and 
—  developing  in  us  the  intuition — imparts  to  us  knowledge. 
1  See  Apps.  XII.  6  and  XIV. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  267 

The  knowledge  which  descends  into  the  soul  from  above, 
excels  any  that  can  be  attained  by  the  mere  exercise  of 
the  intellect.  Intuition  is  the  operation  of  the  soul.  The 
knowledge  received  through  it  from  above,  descending  into 
the  soul,  fills  it  with  the  perception  of  the  interior  causes  of 
things.  The  Gods  announce  it  by  their  presence,  and  by 
illumination,  and  enable  us  to  discern  the  universal  order." 
Commenting  on  these  words  of  a  philosopher  regarded  by 
his  contemporaries  with  a  veneration  approaching  to  adora- 
tion, for  his  wisdom  and  miraculous  powers,  a  recent  leader 
of  the  prevailing  school  exclaims,  "  Thus  is  Proclus  con- 
sistent in  absurdity  !"i  Whereas,  had  the  critic  been  aware 
of  the  truth  concerning  the  reality,  personaHty,  and  accessi- 
bility of  the  world  celestial,  so  far  from  denouncing  Proclus 
as  "absurd,"  he  would  have  supremely  envied  him,  and 
eagerly  sought  the  secret  and  method  of  the  Neoplaton- 
ists.  "To  know  more,"  says  the  writer  in  question,  "we 
must  be  more."  But  when  the  Mystic — who,  in  virtue  of 
his  supreme  sense  of  the  dignity  and  gravity  of  man's  nature, 
affirms  nothing  lightly  or  rashly — offers  his  solemn  assur- 
ance that  we  are  more,  and  prescribes  a  simple  rule,  amply 
verified  by  himself,  whereby  to  ascertain  the  fact,  he  turns 
away  in  disdain,  and  proceeds  in  his  own  manner  to  make 
himself  infinitely  less,  by  becoming  a  ringleader  of  that 
terrible  school  of  Biology,  which  does  not  scruple,  in  the 
outraged  name  of  Science,  to  indulge  its  passion  for  know- 
ledge to  the  utter  disregard  of  humanity  and  morality,  by 
the  infliction  of  tortures  the  most  atrocious  and  protracted, 
upon  creatures  harmless  and  helpless.  Little  wonder  is 
it  that  between  Mystic  and  Materialist  should  gulf  so 
impassable,  feud  so  irreconcilable,  intervene ;  seeing  that 
while  the  one  seeks  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  lower  nature 
*  G.  H.  Lewes,  Biog.  Hist.  Phil, 


268  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

to  his  higher,  and  of  himself  for  others,  to  prove  man  poten- 
tial God,  the  other — turning  vivisector — makes  him  actual 
fiend.i 

1 8.  To  resume  our  exposition  of  the  "mystery  of  godli- 
ness," or  doctrine  of  God  as  the  Lord,  and  of  the  duality 
of  the  Divine  image.  According  to  the  Zohar—\h^  prin- 
cipal book  of  the  Kabbala — the  Divine  word  by  which  all 
things  are  created  is  the  celestial  archetypal  Humanity, 
which — subsisting  eternally  in  the  Divine  Mind — makes 
the  universe  in  His  own  image.  God,  as  absolute  Being, 
having  no  form  or  name,  cannot  and  may  not  be  repre- 
sented under  any  image  or  appellation.  Bent  upon  self- 
manifestation,  or  creation,  the  Divine  Mind  conceives  the 
Ideal  Humanity  as  a  vehicle  in  which  to  descend  from 
Being  into  Existence.  This  is  the  Merkaba,  or  Car,  al- 
ready referred  to  ;  and  that  which  it  denotes  is  Human 
Nature  in  its  perfection,  at  once  twofold  in  operation, 
fourfold  in  constitution,  and  sixfold  in  manifestation,  and 
as  a  cube — Kaabeh — "standing  four-square  to  all  the  winds 
of  heaven."  In  virtue  of  its  twofoldness  this  "vehicle" 
expresses  the  corresponding  opposites.  Will  and  Love, 
Justice  and  Mercy,  Energy  and  Space,  Life  and  Substance, 
Positive  and  Negative,  in  a  word,  Male  and  Female,  both 
of  which  subsist  in  the  Divine  Nature  in  absolute  plenitude 
and  perfect  equilibrium.  Expressed  in  the  Divine  Idea — 
Adam  Kadmon — the  qualities  masculine  and  feminine  of 
existence  are,  in  their  union  and  co-operation,  the  life  and 
salvation  of  the  world ;  and  in  their  division  and  antagon- 

*  This  paragraph  was  written  with  a  view  to  its  publication  in  the 
life-time  of  Mr.  Lewes.  Unhappily,  the  necessity  for  it  has  not  ceased 
with  his  life.  Hence  its  appearance  now.  Both  in  the  schools  and  in 
the  laboratory  his  writings  and  influence  survive  him.  The  work  cited 
is  a  University  text-book  ;  and  a  scholarship  has  been  instituted  in  his 
name  for  the  promotion  of  vivisectional  research. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  2G9 

ism,  its  death  and  destruction.  One  in  the  Absolute,  but 
two  in  the  Relative,  this  ideal — but  not  therefore  the  less 
real — Humanity  resumes  both  in  itself,  and  is  king  and 
queen  of  the  universe,  and  as  such  is  projected  through 
every  sphere  of  creation  to  the  material  and  phenomenal, 
causing  the  outer,  lower,  and  sensible  world  everywhere 
to  be  made  in  the  image  of  the  inner,  upper,  and  spiritual : 
so  that  all  that  subsists  in  the  latter  belongs  to  us  here 
below  and  is  in  our  image ;  and  the  two  regions  together 
make  one  uniform  existence  which  is  a  vast  Man,  being, 
like  the  individual  man,  in  constitution  fourfold  and  in 
operation  dual. 

19.  This  doctrine  of  Correspondence  finds  expression 
through  Paul,  first,  when  he  declares  that  "the  invisible 
things  of  God  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly 
seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  which  are  made ; "  and 
again,  when — applying  it  in  its  dual  relation  to  the  sexes 
of  humanity — he  says  "  Neither  is  the  man  without  the 
woman,  nor  the  woman  without  the  man  in  the  Lord.  " 
The  purity  of  its  doctrine  in  this  respect  constitutes  a  proof 
of  the  divinity  of  the  Kabbala.  For  it  shows  that  this 
famous  compendium  belongs  to  a  period  prior  to  that 
destruction  by  the  priesthoods  of  the  equilibrium  of  the 
sexes  which  constituted  in  one  sense  the  "  Fall."  Calling 
the  woman  the  house  and  wall  of  the  man,  without  whose 
bounding  and  redeeming  influence  he  would  inevitably  be 
dissipated  and  lost  in  the  abyss,  the  Kabbala  describes  her 
as  constituting  the  centripetal  and  aspirational  element  in 
humanity,  having  a  natural  affinity  for  the  pure  and  noble, 
to  which,  with  herself,  she  always  seeks  to  raise  man,  and 
being  therefore  his  guide  and  initiator  in  things  spiritual. 
Thus  recognising  in  the  sexes  of  humanity  respectively,  the 
manifestation  of  the  quaUties  masculine  and  feminine  of  the 


270  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

divine  Nature,  Its  power  and  Its  love,  the  Kabbala  duly 
inculcates  the  worship  of  that  true  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  the 
knowledge  of  whom  constitutes  its  possessors  the  "  Israel 
of  God."  ''  Not  every  one  who  says  Lord,  Lord,  is  of  this 
heavenly  kingdom ;  but  they  only  who  do  the  will  of  the 
Father  Who  is  in  heaven,"  and  Who  accordingly  honour 
duly  His  "  two  Witnesses "  on  earth — the  man  and  the 
woman — on  every  plane  of  man's  fourfold  nature.  It  is 
by  reason  of  Christ's  duality  that  humanity  beholds  in  him 
its  representative.  And  it  is  only  in  those  who  seek  in 
this  to  be  like  him,  that  Christ  can  by  any  means  be  born. 

20.  Close  as  was  the  agreement  between  Paul  and  the 
Kabbala  in  respect — among  other  doctrines — of  the  dual 
nature  of  Deity,  the  agreement  stopped  short  of  the  due 
issue  of  that  doctrine.  And  it  is  mainly  through  Paul  that 
the  influence  we  have  described  as  at  once  astral,  rabinical, 
and  sacerdotal,  found  entrance  into  the  Church.  For, 
judged  by  the  received  text,  Paul,  when  it  came  to  a  matter 
of  practical  teaching,  exchanged  the  spirit  of  the  Kabbala 
for  that  of  the  Talmud,  and  transmitted — aggravated  and 
reinforced — to  Christianity,  the  traditional  contempt  of  his 
race  for  woman.  The  Talmud  appoints  to  every  pious 
Jew,  as  a  daily  prayer,  these  words  : — "  Blessed  art  thou, 
O  Lord,  that  thou  hast  not  made  me  a  Gentile,  an  idiot,  or 
a  woman;"  and  while  enjoining  the  instruction  of  his  sons 
in  the  Law,  proliibits  that  of  the  daughters  on  the  ground 
that  women  are  accursed.  This  reprobation  of  one  whole 
moiety  of  the  divine  nature,  instead  of  finding  condem- 
nation from  Paul  as  erroneous,  was  adopted  by  him  as  the 
basis  of  his  instructions  concerning  the  position  of  women 
in  a  Christian  society.  For,  after  rightly  defining  the 
doctrine  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes  "  in  the  Lord,"  we 
find  him  writing  to  the  Corinthians  in  the   following  strain  : 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  27« 

"  But  I  would  have  you  know  that  the  head  of  every  man 
is  Christ,  and  the  head  of  the  woman  is  the  man.  For 
a  man  indeed  ought  not  to  have  his  head  veiled,  forasmuch 
as  he  is  the  image  and  glory  of  God  :  but  the  woman  is  the 
glory  of  the  man.  For  the  man  is  not  of  the  woman ;  but 
the  woman  of  the  man  :  for  neither  was  the  man  created 
for  the  woman,  but  the  woman  for  the  man  ;  for  this  cause 
ought  the  woman  to  have  a  sign  of  authority  on  her  head, 
because  of  the  angers."  "  Let  a  woman  learn  in  quietness 
with  all  subjection.  But  I  permit  not  a  woman  to  teach, 
nor  to  have  dominion  over  a  man,  but  to  be  in  quietness." 
"  Let  the  women  keep  silence  in  the  churches  ;  for  it  is  not 
permitted  unto  them  to  speak,  but  let  them  be  in  subjection, 
as  saith  the  Law.  It  is  shameful  for  a  woman  to  speak  in 
the  Church."  "  For  Adam  was  first  formed,  then  Eve  ;  and 
Adam  was  not  beguiled ;  but  the  woman  being  beguiled, 
fell  into  transgression."  To  the  same  purport  writes 
Peter,  who,  as  he  certainly  did  not  derive  the  doctrine  from 
his  Master,  had  doubtless  been  overborne  in  respect  of  it 
by  Paul.i  Thus  enforced,  the  doctrine  of  the  subjection  of 
the  woman  became  accepted  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
Christian  system,  constituting  in  it  an  element  of  inevitable 
self-destruction. 

21.  The  utterance  last  cited  from  Paul  gives  the  clue  to 

*  In  I  Pet.  iii.  6,  it  is  said  that  "  Sara  obeyed  Abraham,  calling  him 
lord ;  "  whereas,  according  to  Genesis,  Abraham  rather  obeyed  Sarai, 
calling  her  lady ;  for  the  change  made  by  him  in  her  name — from  Sarai 
to  Sara — implies  an  acccbsion  of  dignity.  Thereby,  from  being  "my 
lady,"  she  became  *'  the  lady,"  and  representative  of  the  feminine  ele- 
ment in  Divinity.  The  Deity  is  represented  moreover  as  impressing 
on  Abraham  this  injunction  :— "In  all  that  Sara  hath  said  unto  thee, 
hearken  unto  her  voice."  The  fault  of  Adam  lay  not — as  might  be  in- 
ferred from  the  passage  as  it  stands  in  Genesis — in  "  hearkening  to  the 
voice  of  his  wife,"  but  in  doing  so  when  she  was  under  beguilement  **  of 
the  devil  " — a  qualification  for  the  suppression  of  which  the  motive  is 
obvious. 


£72  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

the  source  and  motive  of  his  doctrine  concerning  woman. 
It  is  a  perversion,  due  to  the  influences  already  specified, 
of  the  parable  of  the  Fall.  When  speaking  in  the  Spirit, 
Paul  declares  the  man  and  the  woman  aUke  to  be  "  in  the 
Lord."  Subsiding  from  this  level,  and  speaking — as  ac- 
cording to  his  own  admission,  he  was  not  unwont  to  speak 
— "  foolishly,"  or  of  his  own  lower  reason,  he  contradicts 
this  statement  and  affirms  that  the  man  alone  is  made  in 
the  image  of  God, — the  divine  Idea  of  Humanity  compri- 
sing the  male  element  only, — and  implies  that  the  woman 
is  but  a  mere  after-thought,  contrived  to  meet  an  unex- 
pected emergency,  and  made,  therefore,  in  the  image,  not 
of  God,  but  of  the  man.  Thus  substituting  the  Letter  for 
the  Spirit,  and  wholly  losing  sight  of  the  latter,  Paul  de- 
grades the  mystic  Scripture  from  its  proper  plane  and 
universal  signification,  to  a  level  historical  merely  and  local. 
By  making  Adam  and  Eve  no  longer  types  of  the  substan- 
tial humanity  in  its  two  essential  modes,  the  outer  and 
inner  personality,  but  an  actual  material  couple,  the  first 
physical  projenitors  of  the  race,  he  accepts  in  all  its  gross, 
impossible  crudity  the  fable  of  the  apple  and  the  snake, 
and  declares  that  because  the  first  woman  was  beguiled, 
therefore  her  daughters— not  her  sons — must  through  all 
time  to  come  bear  the  penalty  of  silence  and  servitude  ! 

2  2  That  which  Paul  would  have  taught,  had  his  vision 
been  uniformly  enlightened,  is  the  truth  that,  so  far  from  the 
woman  being  an  inferior  part  of  humanity,  it  is  not  until 
she  is,  on  all  its  planes,  exalted,  crowned,  and  glorified,  that 
humanity,  whether  in  the  individual  or  in  the  race,  can 
attain  to  Christhood,  seeing  that  she,  and  not  the  "  man," 
is  the  bruiser  of  the  serpent's  head,  the  last  to  be  man^ 
fested,  and  therefore  the  first  in  dignity.  For  this  reason  it 
is  that  only  by  the  restoration  of  the  woman,  on  all  planes 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  273 

of  her  manifestation,  can  the  equilibrium  of  man's  nature, 
destroyed  at  the  "  Fall,"  be  re-established.  As  it  is,  the 
direct  effect  of  the  teaching  of  Paul  in  this,  and  in  certain 
allied  respects, —  notably  the  doctrine  of  atonement  by  vi- 
carious bloodshed, — has  been  to  perpetuate  the  false  balance 
introduced  by  the  Fall,  and  therein  to  confirm  the  Curse,  to 
remove  which  is  the  supreme  mission  of  the  Christ  as  the 
"  seed  of  the  woman."  On  this  subject  Jesus  himself  had 
spoken  very  explicitly,  though  only  in  writings  labelled 
*'  Apocryphal  "  are  the  utterances  recorded.  Of  these,  one, 
given  by  Clement,  declares  plainly  that  the  kingdom  of  God 
can  come  only  "  when  Two  shall  be  One,  and  the  Man  as 
the  Woman."  In  the  other, — recorded  in  the  Egyptian 
gospel, — Jesus,  speaking  mystically,  says,  "The  kingdom 
of  Heaven  shall  come  when  you  women  shall  have  re- 
nounced the  dress  of  your  sex  ;"  meaning,  when  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  soul,  namely  women,  no  longer  submit  to 
ordinances  which  cause  or  imply  inferiority  on  the  part 
either  of  themselves  or  of  that  which  they  represent ;  but, 
with  the  soul,  are  restored  to  their  proper  place.  But,  apart 
from  any  specific  utterances,  the  whole  character  and  teaching 
of  Jesus  are  at  variance  with  the  doctrine  and  usage  which 
have  prevailed.  For  that  character  and  teaching  were  in 
complete  accordance  with  the  course  already  from  the  be- 
ginning marked  out  in  the  planisphere  of  the  Zodiac,  where- 
in the  rising  of  the  constellation  Vi7'go  is  followed  by  Libra^ 
the  Balance, — emblem  of  the  Divine  Justice, — in  token  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Righteousness  which 
should  follow  upon  the  rehabiUtation  of  the  "Woman." 
Paul,  on  the  contrary, — in  his  astral  and  non-lucid  mo- 
ments,— enforces  the  curse  which  Jesus  would  have  put 
away ;  appeals  to  the  Law  which  at  other  times  he  repu- 
diates and  denounces  :  and  forges  its  chains  anew  by  thrust- 

T 


274  THE   PERFECT  WAY. 

ing  them  around  the  necks  of  those  who — he  himself  says 
— should  be  "  no  more  under  the  Law,  but  under  Grace."  ^ 
23.  Thus  does  Paul,  to  whose  writings  chiefly  the  various 
doctrinal  systems  of  Christianity  owe  their  origin,  divide 
the  Churches,  and  diminish  che  Reason,  by  falling  back  on 
convention  and  tradition.  Now  the  Reason  is  not  the 
"intellect,'' — this,  as  we  h?ve  insisted,  represents  but  a 
moiety  of  the  mind.  The  Reason  is  the  whole  humanity, 
which  comprises  the  intuition  as  well  as  the  intellect, 
and  is  in  God's  Image,  male  and  female.  This  supreme 
Reason  it  is  which  finds  its  full  expression  in  the  Logos  or 
Lord.  Wherefore,  in  denying  her  true  place  to  the  woman 
in  his  scheme  of  society,  Paal  denies  to  the  Lord  his  due 
manifestation  on  earth,  and  exalts  for  worship  some  image 
other  than  the  divine.  It  is  because  they  recognise  in  the 
Reason  the  heir  of  all  things,  that  the  devil  and  his  agents 
always  make  it  their  first  concern  to  cast  it  out  and  slay  it 
"This  is  the  Heir,"— the  Reason,  the  Logos,  the  Lord, — 
"come  let  us  kill  him,  and  the  inheritance  shall  be  ours," 
— say  those  ministers  of  Unreason,  the  materialistic  ortho- 
doxies of  Church  and  World.  And  no  sooner  is  the  Reason 
suDpressed  and  cast  out,  than  madness,  folly,  and  evil  of 
d^ery  kind  step  in  and,  taking  possession,  bear  rule,  making 
tne  last  state — be  it  of  community  or  of  individual — worse 
than  the  first.  For  then  in  place  of  Christ  and  the  divine 
image,  is  anti-Christ  and  the  '*  man  of  sin  " ;  and  the  rule  is 
that  of  falsehood,  superstition,  and  all  manner  of  unclean 
spirits,  having  neither  knowledge,  nor  power,  nor  wisdom, 

*  According  to  the  Apocryphal  Epistles,  and  to  ecclesiastical  tradition, 
Paul,  nevertheless,  directed  his  own  female  associate  —  Theckla — to 
preach  in  public,  and  suffered  her  even  to  wear  male  attire.  Paul,  how- 
ever, following  the  Levitical  Code  (Lev.  xxi.  13),  draws  a  distinction 
between  married  women  and  virgins,  saying  he  had  no  commandment 
about  the  latter. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  275 

nor  aught  that  in  any  respect  corresponds  to  God.  Of  the 
mutilation  and  defacement  of  the  Divine  Reason  by  the 
Church,  under  the  impulsion  of  Paul,  the  present  state  of 
both  Church  and  World  is  the  inevitable  sequel. 

24,  Besides  Paul,  there  are  two  others  associated  with 
the  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  of  names  so  notable  as  to 
necessitate  a  reference  to  them.  These  are  Plato,  and 
Philo  called  Judaeus.  They  also  recognised  the  Lord 
as  the  Logos  and  Divine  Reason  of  things.  But  they 
failed  to  recognise  the  Dualism  of  the  Divine  nature  there- 
in, and  by  their  failure  ministered  to  the  confirmation, 
rather  than  to  the  reversal,  of  the  Fall  and  the  Curse. 
Between  Philo  and  Paul  the  points  of  resemblance  are 
many  and  striking,  foremost  among  them  being  the  de- 
preciation of  woman,  and  the  advocacy  of  vicarious  blood- 
shedding  as  a  means  of  propitiating  Deity.  Philo,  who  in 
these  respects  is  a  thorough  sacerdotalist,  claims  to  have 
been  initiated  into  spiritual  mysteries  directly  by  the  spirit 
of  Moses.  This,  it  will  be  now  understood,  is  a  distinct  and 
positive  proof,  were  any  wanting,  of  the  astral  character  of 
much  at  least  of  Philo's  inspiration.  He,  too,  like  many 
in  our  day  was  beguiled  by  a  spirit  of  the  astral,  which, 
personating  the  great  prophet  so  long  dead,  insisted,  in  the 
name  of  Moses,  on  the  sacerdotal  degradations  of  the  teach- 
ing of  Moses.  Like  Paul, — though  never  attaining  his 
elevation, — Philo  oscillated  continually  between  the  Talmud 
and  the  Kabbala,  the  astral  and  the  celestial,  mixing  error 
and  truth  accordingly,  and  ignored  altogether  the  contrary 
presentation  given  of  the  divine  Sophia  in  the  inspired 
"  Book  of  Wisdom," — a  book  of  which  some  have  never- 
theless ascribed  the  authorship  to  Philo  himself! 

25.  Plato  and  no  less  Aristotle,  discerned  in  a  perfect 
humanity  the  end  and  aim  of  creation,  and  in  the  universe 


»76  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

a  prelude  to  and  preparation  for  the  perfect  man.  Recog- 
nising, however,  the  masculine  element  only  of  existence, 
Aristotle  regarded  every  production  of  Nature  other  than 
a  male  of  the  human  species,  as  a  failure  in  the  attempt 
to  produce  a  man ;  and  the  woman  as  something  maimed 
and  imperfect,  to  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  hypothesis 
that  Nature,  though  artist,  is  but  blind.  Similarly  Plato — 
despite  the  intuition  whereby  he  was  enabled  to  recognise 
Intellect  and  Emotion  as  the  two  wings  indispensable 
for  man's  ascent  to  his  proper  altitude — was  wholly 
insensible  to  the  correspondence  by  virtue  of  which  the 
latter  finds  in  woman  its  highest  expression.  For  the 
strain  in  which  he  treated  of  her  was  so  bitter  and  con- 
temptuous, as  largely  to  minister  to  the  making  of  his 
country — instead  of  the  Eden  which  results  where,  and 
only  where,  the  woman  is  honoured  and  unfallen — a  veri- 
table rival  of  the  "  cities  of  the  Plain."  In  his  view,  only 
they  who  have  previously  disgraced  themselves  as  men, 
become  re-incarnated  as  animals  and  women.  The  Logos 
of  Plato  is,  clearly,  no  prototype  of  the  Logos  of  that 
Christianity  which  is  based  on  the  duality  of  the  Divine 
Being,  and  requires  of  the  Christ  that  he  represent  the 
whole  humanity. 

26.  The  Fathers  of  the  Church — step-fathers,  rather, 
were  they  to  the  true  Christianity — for  the  most  part  vied 
with  each  other  in  their  depreciation  of  woman ;  and, 
denouncing  her  with  every  vile  epithet,  held  it  a  degrada- 
tion for  a  saint  to  touch  even  his  own  aged  mother  with 
the  hand  in  order  to  sustain  her  feeble  steps.  And  the 
Church,  falling  under  a  domination  exclusively  sacerdotal, 
while  doctrinally  it  exalted  womanhood  to  a  level  beside, 
though  not  to  its  place  in,  the  Godhead,  practically  sub- 
stituted priestly  exclusiveness  for  Christian  comprehension. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  277 

For  it  declared  woman  unworthy,  through  inherent  impurity, 
even  to  set  foot  within  the  sanctuaries  of  its  temples ; 
suffered  her  to  exercise  her  functions  of  wife  and  mother 
only  under  the  spell  of  a  triple  exorcism  ;  and  denied  her, 
when  dead,  burial  in  its  more  sacred  precincts,  even  though 
she  were  an  abbess  of  undoubted  sanctity. 

27.  The  Reformation  altered,  but  did  not  better,  the 
condition  of  woman.  Socially,  it  rescued  her  from  the 
priest  to  make  her  the  chattel  of  the  husband ;  and  doc- 
trinally,  it  expunged  her  altogether.  Calvinism  is,  on  all 
planes,  a  repudiation  of  the  woman  in  favour  of  the  man ; 
inasmuch  as  it  recognises  only  will  and  force,  and  rejects 
love  and  goodness,  as  essential  qualities  of  Being,  whether 
Divine  or  human.  And  Protestantism  at  large,  both  Uni- 
tarian and  Trinitarian,  finds  in  its  definition  of  the  Substance 
of  existence,  place  only  for  the  masculine  element.  Even 
the  great  bard  of  Nonconformism,  John  Milton, — though 
finding  woman  so  indispensable  to  him  as  to  have  thrice 
wedded, — disfigured  his  verse  and  belied  his  inspiration 
as  poet,  by  his  bitter  and  incessant  depreciation  of  her 
without  whom  poetry  itself  would  have  no  existence.  For 
poetry  is  the  function  of  genius,  and  genius,  which  is  the 
product  of  sympathy,  is  not  of  the  man,  but  of  the  woman 
in  the  man ;  and  she  herself— as  her  typical  name  Venus 
imphes — is  the  "  Sweet  Song  of  God."  ^  In  the  same 
spirit  the  chief  instrument  of  the  Reformation,  Martin 
Luther,  declared  of  the  two  sacred  books  which  especially 
point  to  the  woman  as  the  agent  of  man's  final  redemption 
— the  books  of  Esther  and  Revelation — that  "  so  far  as  he 


*  Such  also  is  the  signification  of  Anael,  the  Hebrew  name  of  the 
"Angel"  of  her  planet.  Venus  is  said  by  some  to  be  originally 
Phe-7ius,  having  for  root  <t)'i)fj.i..  For  an  example  of  the  nature  of  the 
true  mysteries  of  this  divinity,  see  Appendices,  No.  XIII. 


278  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

esteemed  them,  it  would  be  no  loss  if  they  were  thrown 
into  the  river." 

28.  The  influence  in  question  is  not  confined  to  the 
sphere  of  Christianity.  It  dictated  the  form  assumed  by 
Islamisrii.  Originating  in  impulses  derived  from  the  celes- 
tial, this  religion  fell  beneath  the  sway  of  the  astral  so 
soon  as  its  founder,  making  a  rich  marriage,  lived  luxuri- 
ously and  occupied  himself  with  worldly  matters.  Sacer- 
dotalism failed,  it  is  true,  to  find  in  Islamism  its  ordinary 
mode  of  expression.  But  the  principle  of  the  doctrine  of 
vicarious  sacrifice  in  propitiation  of  the  Deity,  showed  itself 
in  the  recognition  of  bloodshed  as  a  means  of  proselytism. 
And  women  were  relegated  to  a  position  altogether  inferior, 
being  regarded  as  differing  from  men  not  merely  in  degree, 
but  in  kind.  For  they  were  denied  the  possession  of  a 
soul ;  and  their  place  in  the  Hereafter  was  supplied  by 
astral  equivalents  under  the  scarcely  disguised  name  of 
Houris,  The  Koran  itself  is  little  else  than  an  imitation 
of  the  Old  Testament,  conceived  under  astral  suggestion. 
A  yet  more  unmitigated  form  of  what  may  be  called 
Astralism  is  the  religion  known  as  Mormonism ;  the  sacred 
books  of  which  are,  throughout,  but  astral  travesties  of 
Scripture;  its  doctrine  of  "spiritual  wives,"  and  of  the 
position  of  woman  generally,  being  similarly  derived.  It 
thus  constitutes  an  instance  in  point,  of  the  unceasing  en- 
deavour of  the  spirits  of  the  sub-human  to  establish  a 
kingdom  of  their  own,  instead  of  that  of  the  Lord  and  the 
Divine  Idea  of  Humanity.  The  Moslem  Sufis  had  all  the 
truth. 

Part  III. 

29.  It  will  be  well,  before  proceeding  to  our  conclusion, 
to  take  note   of  the   objections  with  which  it  is  usually 


Lkct.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  279 

sought  to  discredit — under  the  name  of  Mysticism — the 
system  in  course  of  exposition.  These  objections  are  com- 
prised under  two  heads,  of  which  the  terms,  respectively, 
are  Plagiarism  and  Enthusiasm.  By  the  former  it  is 
meant  that  the  professors  of  Mysticism,  instead  of  being 
the  actual  recipients  of  the  experiences  they  record  of 
themselves,  borrow  them  from  some  common — but  equally 
delusive — source.  And  by  the  latter  it  is  impHed  that, 
at  the  best,  the  experiences,  and  the  doctrines  based  upon 
them,  are  due  to  morbid  conditions  of  mind.  This,  in  plain 
language,  means  that  the  opponents  of  Mysticism — unable 
either  to  emulate  or  to  confute  it — try  to  get  rid  of  it  by 
charging  its  professors  with  dishonesty  or  insanity.  And 
so  far  from  this  line  of  treatment  being  exceptional  or  rare, 
it  is  persistent  and  constant  throughout  the  whole  range  of 
the  literature  characteristic  of  the  age,  and  this  in  every 
class  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  and  in  every  branch 
of  intellectual  activity.  Instead  of  being  submitted  to 
examination  even  the  most  superficial,  the  entire  system 
comprised  under  the  term  Mysticism — its  witnesses,  its 
facts,  and  its  doctrines — has  in  that  Uterature  been  rejected 
off-hand  and  without  inquiry,  by  the  simple  process  of 
abrupt  contradiction,  and  the  ascription,  in  no  measured 
degree,  to  its  representatives  and  exponents,  of  pretence, 
imposture,  charlatanism,  quackery,  hallucination,  and  mad- 
ness— an  ascription  preposteious  in  the  extreme  in  view 
of  the  status,  moral  and  intellectual,  of  the  persons  as- 
persed. For  of  these  the  character  and  eminence  have 
been  such  as,  of  themselves,  to  entitle  their  statements  to 
attention  the  most  respectful ;  and  the  Order  to  which,  one 
and  all,  they  have  belonged,  comprises  the  world's  finest 
intellects,  profoundest  scholars,  maturest  judgments,  noblest 
dispositions,  ripest   characters,  and   greatest   benefactors; 


28o  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

and  in  short,  as  has  already  been  said,  all  those  sages, 
saints,  seers,  prophets,  and  Christs,  through  whose  re- 
deeming influence  humanity  has  been  raised  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit  of  its  own  lower  nature,  and  preserved 
from  the  abyss  of  utter  negation.  Of  these,  and  of 
numberless  others,  the  testimony  to  the  reality  of  mystical 
experiences  and  the  truth  of  mystical  doctrine,  has  been 
concurrent,  continuous,  positive,  and  maintained  at  the  cost 
of  liberty,  reputation,  property,  family  ties,  social  position, 
and  every  earthly  good,  even  to  Ufe  itself,  and  this  over  a 
period  extending  from  before  the  beginning  of  history  until 
now.  So  that  it  may  with  absolute  confidence  be  main- 
tained, that  if  the  declarations  of  Mystics  are  to  be  set  aside 
as  insufficient  to  establish  their  claims,  all  human  testimony 
whatever  is  worthless  as  a  criterion  of  fact,  and  all  human 
intelligence  as  a  criterion  of  truth. 

30.  The  charge  of  Plagiarism  is  soon  disposed  of.  It  is 
true  that  the  correspondence  upon  which  the  charge  is 
founded  subsists.  But  it  is  also  true  that  this  correspondence 
is  only  that  which  necessarily  subsists  between  the  accounts 
given  of  identical  phenomena  by  different  witnesses.  The 
world's  Mystics  have  been  as  a  band  of  earnest  explorers 
who,  one  after  another,  and  often  in  complete  ignorance  of 
the  results  attained  by  their  predecessors,  have  ascended 
the  same  giant  mountain-range,  and,  returning,  have  brought 
back  to  the  dwellers  in  the  valleys  below — too  feeble  or 
indifferent  to  make  the  ascent  for  themselves — the  same 
report  of  its  character  and  products,  and  of  the  tracts  dis- 
cerned from  its  various  aspects  and  altitudes,  showing 
thereby  a  perfect  coherence  of  faculty  and  testimony. 
Such  is  the  agreement  which  has  been  made  the  pretext 
for  a  charge  of  plagiarism  against  IMystics,  simply  because 
the  region  visited  and  reported  on  by  them  is  a  spiritual 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  281 

and  not  a  material  one,  and  Materialists  will  not  have  it  that 
any  other  than  a  material  subsists.  Precisely  the  agreement 
which  in  all  other  cases  is  made  indispensable  as  a  proof  of 
trustworthiness,  is  in  this  case  interpreted  as  a  token  of 
collusion. 

31.  To  come  to  the  somewhat  more  plausible  charge  of 
Enthusiasm.  It  is  alleged  that  the  Mystics  have  conceived 
their  system,  not  in  that  calm,  philosophical  frame  of  mind 
which  alone  is  favourable  to  the  discovery  of  truth,  but  in 
a  spirit  of  excitement  and  enthusiasm  of  which  the  inevitable 
product  is  hallucination.  Now,  this  allegation  is  not  only 
contrary  to  fact,  it  is  intrinsically  absurd,  whether  as  applied 
to  the  phenomena  or  to  the  philosophy  of  Mysticism.  For 
one  who,  through  the  unfoldment  of  his  spiritual  faculties, 
is  enaoled  to  enjoy  open  conditions  with  the  spiritual  world, 
the  suggestion  that  his  consequent  experiences  are  the 
result  of  hallucination,  constitutes  an  act  of  presumption 
every  whit  as  gross  as  would  be  the  like  suggestion  con- 
cerning the  material  world  if  made  by  a  blind  man  to  one 
possessed  of  eyesight.  For,  as  already  observed,  such  is 
the  nature  of  the  experiences  in  question,  that  if  they  are  to 
be  disregarded  as  insufficient  to  demonstrate  the  reality  of 
the  spiritual  world,  no  ground  remains  whereon  to  believe 
in  that  of  the  material  world.  It  is  true  that  the  Materialist 
cannot — as  a  rule — be  made  a  partaker  of  the  evidences  in 
question.  But  neither  can  the  blind  man  have  ocular  proof 
of  the  existence  of  the  material  world.  For  him  there  is  no 
sun  in  the  sky  if  he  refuse  to  credit  those  who  alone  possess 
the  faculty  wherewith  to  behold  it,  and  persist  in  regarding 
himself  as  a  representative  man. 

32.  The  case  for  the  Mystic's  intellectual  results  b 
equally  strong.  Such  are  the  coherency  and  completeness 
of  the  mystical  system  of  thought,  that  by  all  schools  what- 


282  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

ever  of  thinkers  it  has  ever,  with  one  consent,  been  pro- 
nounced to  be  inexpugnable,  and  that  alone  which  would, 
if  provable,  constitute  an  explanation,  altogether  satisfactory, 
of  the  phenomena  of  existence.  In  this  system,  where  ap- 
prehended in  its  proper  integrity,  Reason  has  in  vain  sought 
to  detect  a  flaw ;  and  they  who  have  rejected  it,  have  done 
so  solely  through  their  own  inability  to  obtain  that  se?tsible 
evidence  of  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  world,  the  power  to 
receive  and  interpret  which,  constitutes  the  Mystic. 

33.  Nevertheless,  of  the  fact  of  the  Mystic's  enthusiasm 
there  is  no  question.  But  enthusiasm  is  neither  his  instru- 
ment of  observation  nor  that  of  inference.  And  he  is  not 
more  fairly  chargeable  with  conceiving  his  system  by  the 
exercise  of  an  imagination  stimulated  by  enthusiasm,  than 
is  the  believer  in  the  world  exclusively  material.  Fir,  like 
the  latter,  he  has  sensible  evidence  of  the  facts  whereon 
he  builds  ;  and  he  observes  all  possible  deliberation  and 
circumspection  in  his  deductions  therefrom.  The  only 
difference  between  them  in  this  relation,  is  that  the  senses 
principally  appealed  to  by  his  facts,  are  those,  not  of  the 
man  physical,  but  of  the  man  spiritual,  or  soul,  which,  as 
consisting  of  substance,  is  necessarily  alone  competent  for 
the  appreciation  of  the  phenomena  of  substance.  Con- 
stituted as  is  man,  while  in  the  body,  of  both  Matter  and 
Spirit,  he  is  a  complete  being — and  therefore  fully  man — 
only  when  he  has  developed  the  faculties  requisite  for  the 
discernment  of  both  elements  of  his  nature. 

34.  In  the  promotion  of  this  development  enthusiasm  is 
a  prime  factor.  By  means  of  it  the  man  is  elevated  to  that 
region,  interior  and  superior,  where  alone  serenity  prevails 
and  perception  is  unobstructed,  where  are  the  beginnings  of 
the  clues  of  all  objects  of  his  search,  and  wliere  his  facul- 
ties are  at  their  best,  inasmuch  as  it  is  their  native  place^ 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  283 

and  they  are  there  exempt  from  the  limitations  of  the 
material  organism.  Attaining  thus  to  his  full  altitude,  he 
no  longer  has  need  to  reason  and  compare.  For  he  sees 
and  knows,  and  his  mind  is  content.  For  him,  in  the  divine 
order  of  his  spiritual  system,  "  the  woman  is  carried  to  the 
throne  of  God."  The  Zeus  and  Hera  of  his  own  celestial 
kingdom  are  wedded.  The  Adam,  perfected,  has  found  an 
infallible  Eve.  Existence  is  a  garden  of  delights,  whereof 
the  fruits  are  the  "  golden  apples  "  of  knowledge  and  good- 
ness. For  the  intellect  and  intuition — divine  man  and 
woman  of  his  perfected  humanity — are  at  one  in  the  blissful 
home  of  his  parent  Spirit,  the  Within  or  fourth  dimension 
of  space,  whence  all  things  have  their  procession,  and  where 
alone,  therefore,  they  can  be  comprehended.  As  well  re- 
fuse credit  to  the  researches  of  the  meteorologist  on  account 
of  the  upward  impulses  of  the  vehicle  on  which  he  gains 
the  loftier  strata  of  air,  or  of  the  superior  purity  of  the 
medium  in  which  he  operates,  as  to  those  of  the  Mystic 
on  account  of  the  enthusiasm  by  means  of  which  his  ascent 
is  accomplished.  For  enthusiasm  is  simply  his  impelling 
force,  without  which  he  could  never  have  quitted  the 
outer,  nether  and  apparent,  and  gained  the  inner,  upper 
and  real.  Wherefore,  even  when  the  abstraction  from  the 
outer  world  attains  the  intensity  of  Ecstasy,  there  is  nought 
in  the  condition  to  invalidate  the  perceptions,  sensible  or 
mental,  of  the  seer.  But  simply  are  his  faculties  heightened 
and  perfected  through  the  exclusion  of  all  limiting  or  dis- 
turbing influences,  and  the  consequent  release  of  the  con- 
sciousness from  material  trammel  and  bias.  There  is,  as 
already  said,  no  really  "invisible  world."  That  which 
ecstasy  does,  is  to  open  the  vision  to  a  world  imperceptible 
to  the  exterior  senses — that  world  of  substance  which,  lying 
behind  phenomenon,  necessarily  requires  for  its  cognition 


884  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

faculties  which  are  not  of  the  phenomenal  but  of  the  sub- 
stantial man.     Says  one  eminent  Manualist  concerning  the 
Neoplatonic  Mystics  : — "  Their  teaching  was  a  desperate 
over-leaping   and  destruction   of  all   philosophy."^      Says 
another: — "In  the  desperate  spring  made  at  Alexandria, 
reason  was  given  up  for  ecstasy."  ^     Whereas  the  truth  is, 
that  the  only  sense  in  which  reason  can  be  said  to  be  given 
up  by  the  Mystic,  is  that  in  which,  not  reason  but  reasoning 
is  given  up,  when,  after  exhausting  conjecture  blindfold,  a 
man  opens  his  eyes  and  sees,  and  so  requires  no  further  ratio- 
cination.    For  ecstasy  does  but  verify  by  actual  vision  the 
highest  results  of  reason ;   though  it  may,  and  frequently 
does,  thus  operate  in  advance  of  the  stage  in  his  reasoning 
reached  at  the  time  by  the  seer.     And  so  far,  moreover, 
from  superseding  the  necessity  for  the  exercise  of  reason, 
it  is  impossible  without  previous  mental  culture,  duly  to 
appreciate  the  results  of  ecstatic,  any  more  than  of  ordinary 
vision.     For  all  understanding  is  of  the  mind  \  and  neither 
the  vision  of  things  terrestrial  nor  that   of  things  celestial 
can  dispense  with  the  exercise  of  this.     Of  course,  with  the 
advent  of  knowledge  the  necessity  for  reasoning  ceases,  and 
in  this  sense  it  is  true  that  the  Mystic  "  destroys  philosophy 
by  merging  it  in  religion."     But  in  this  sense  only.     For,  in 
his   hands,  philosophy  simply,  and   under   compulsion   of 
reason,  acknowledges  religion  as  its  legitimate  and  inevitable 
terminus,  when  not,  through  aHmitation  of  reason,  arbitrarily 
withheld  therefrom.    And,  in  a  world  proceeding  from  God, 
no  reason  would  be  sound,  no  philosophy  complete,  of  which 
the  conclusion — as  well  as  the  beginning — was  not  religion. 
So  far,  also,  from  such  rehgious  philosophy  involving,  as 
constantly  charged  against  it,  the  abnegation  of  self-con- 

1  Schwegler,  Manual  of  Philosophy, 
*  G.  H.  Lewes,  Biog.  Hist.  Phil, 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  285 

sciousness  ;  it  involves  and  implies  the  due  self-completion 
of  the  consciousness  by  the  recognition  of  its  true  source 
and  nature.  Thus,  so  far  from  "  losing,"  the  Mystic  finds^ 
himself  thereby ;  for  he  finds  God,  the  true  and  only  Self  of 
all.  And  if  there  be  any  who,  recognising  in  these  pages 
aught  of  goodness,  truth,  or  beauty  transcending  the  ordinary, 
inquire  the  source  thereof,  the  reply  is,  that  the  source  is  no 
other  than  that  just  described,  namely,  the  Spirit  operating 
under  conditions  which  a  materialistic  science,  bent  on  the 
suppression  of  man's  spiritual  nature  and  the  eradication  of 
man's  religious  instinct,  designates  "morbid,"  and  certifies  as 
qualifying  the  subject  for  seclusion  on  the  ground  of  insanity.^ 
35.  We  will  endeavour  by  a  brief  examination  of  the 
standpoints  of  the  two  parties  respectively,  to  exhibit  the 
genesis  and  nature  of  the  Mystic's  enthusiasm.  The  Ma- 
terialist— who  regards  Matter  as  the  sole  constituent  of 
existence,  and  himself  as  derived  from  that  which,  for  its 
defect  in  respect  of  consciousness,  he  deems  mean  and  con- 
temptible— has  for  the  supposed  source  and  substance  of 
his  being,  neither  respect  nor  affection.  No  more  than  any 
one  else  can  he  love  or  honour  the  merely  chemical  or  me- 
chanical. Hence,  like  those  who,  springing  from  a  low  origin, 
have  gained  for  themselves  distinction,  the  last  thing  he 
covets  is  a  return  to  that  from  which  he   came.     How  it 

*  In  The  Nineteenth  Century  {ox  i?>'jg.  Dr.  Maudsley  declares  his  readi- 
ness to  have  certified  the  lunacy  of  various  of  the  most  eminent  saints, 
seers,  and  prophets.  And  the  medical  profession  generally — following 
the  lead  of  France — treats  the  claim  to  be  in  open  conditions  with  the 
spiritual  world  as  proof  positive  of  insanity.  Said  a  member  of  this 
profession  on  a  recent  occasion,  in  support  of  such  action  on  the  part  of 
his  brethren  : — *'  If  we  admit  Spirits,  we  must  admit  Spiritualism,  and 
what  then  becoines  of  the  teachings  of  Materialism  ? "  Thus,  in  an 
age  which  vaunts  itself  an  age  pre-eminently  of  free  thought  and  experi- 
mental philosophy,  are  the  expression  of  thought  and  confession  of 
experience  made  in  the  highest  degree  perilous  when  they  conflict  with 
the  tenets  of  the  prevailing  school. 


286  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

arises  that,  being  wholly  of  Matter,  he  has  in  him  any 
impulse  or  faculty  whereby  to  transcend  even  in  desire  his 
original  level ;  whence  come  the  qualities  and  properties, 
moral  and  intellectual,  subsisting  in  humanity,  but  of  which 
the  most  exhaustive  analysis  of  Matter  reveals  no  trace ; 
whence  the  tendency  of  evolution  in  the  direction  of  beauty, 
use,  and  goodness ;  whence  evolution  itself ; — these  are 
problems  which  are  insoluble  on  his  hypothesis,  and  which 
— since  he  rejects  the  solution  proffered  by  the  Mystic — ■ 
must  for  ever  remain  unsolved  by  him. 

36.  The  Mystic,  on  the  other  hand,  discerning  through 
the  intuition  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  substance  of  existence, 
recognises  himself,  not  as  superior  to  that  from  which  he 
has  sprung,  but  as  a  limitation  and  individuation  of  that 
which  itself  is  unlimited  and  universal,  even  the  absolutely 
pure  and  perfect  Spirit  which  is  no  other  than  God.  Know- 
ing himself  to  be  thence  derived  and  sustained,  and  only 
temporarily,  and  for  a  purpose  conceived  in  infinite  love 
and  executed  in  infinite  wisdom,  subjected  to  inferior  con- 
ditions, he  yearns  towards  the  whole  of  which  he  is  a  part, 
as  a  child  towards  its  necessary  parent,  and  strives,  by 
divesting  himself  of  the  withholding  influences  of  Matter,  to 
rise  into  nearer  resemblance  to  and  contact  with  his  divine 
Original. 

37.  The  materialist,  on  the  contrary,  regarding  Matter 
as  all,  and  its  limitations  as  inherent  in  Being,  sees  in  the 
endeavour  to  transcend  those  hmitations  but  a  suicidal 
attempt  to  escape  from  all  Being.  He  strives,  therefore, 
to  attach  himself  yet  more  closely  to  Matter,  little  as  he 
esteems  it,  and  is  content  when  he  has  succeeded  in  making 
from  among  things  merely  material,  such  selection  as  best 
ministers  to  his  bodily  satisfaction.  And  he  cannot  com- 
prehend one  of  sound  mind  seeking  more. 


Lb.-    IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  287 

38.  But  such  mistake  of  the  phenomenal  for  the  substan- 
tial, of  the  apparent  for  the  real,  cannot  be  made  by  one 
who  to  the  sensations  of  the  body  adds  the  perceptions  and 
recollections  of  the  souL  Such  a  one  knows  by  a  divine 
anJ  infallible  instinct,  which  every  succeeding  experience 
se  .-ves  but  to  confirm,  that  a  perfection  and  satisfaction  far 
tianscending  aught  that  Materialist  can  imagine  or  Matter 
realise,  are  in  very  truth  possible  to  humanity.  And  there- 
fore the  enthusiasm  which  inspires  him  is  the  enthusiasm, 
not  of  an  earthly  humanity,  immature,  rudimentary,  and 
scarcely  even  suggestive  of  its  own  potentialities ;  not  of  a 
humanity  which  is  exterior,  transient,  of  form  only  and 
appearance ;  but  of  a  humanity  mature,  developed,  per- 
manent, and  capable  of  realising  its  own  best  promise  and 
highest  aspirations ;  a  humanity  interior,  substantial,  and  of 
the  Spirit ;  a  humanity,  though  human,  divine,  in  that  it  is 
worthy  of  its  progenitor  God,  and  at  its  best  is  God.  The 
Materialist  knows  not  perfection,  nor  reality,  nor  Spirit,  nor 
God  ;  and,  knowing  none  of  these,  he  knows  not  enthusiasm. 
Now,  not  to  know  enthusiasm,  is  not  to  know  love.  And 
he  who  knows  not  love,  is  not  yet  man.  For  he  has  yet  to 
develop  in  him  that  which  alone  completes  and  makes  the 
man,  namely,  the  woman.  Herein,  then,  is  the  full  solution 
of  the  mystery  of  the  Mystic's  enthusiasm,  and  of  the 
Materialist's  inability  to  comprehend  it  The  one  is  already 
man,  and,  knowing  what  Being  is,  loves.  The  other  is  not 
yet  man,  and,  incapable  of  love,  has  all  to  learn. 

39.  Not  always  did  Materialists  contemn  enthusiasm  and 
repudiate  its  products.  Of  one,  at  least,  history  tells  who 
with  enthusiasm  sang  of  enthusiasm  as  the  energising  force 
of  genius.  It  was  no  other  than  such  a  flight  as  that  of  the 
rapt  Mystic  in  his  ecstasy,  which  Lucretius  ascribed  to  the 
inspired  Epicurus,  when  he  celebrated  his  vivida  vis  animi ; 


2S8  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

for  it  was  in  virtue  of  his  enthusiasm  for  a  perfection  tran- 
scending the  animal,  that  Epicurus  was  enabled  to  overcome 
the  limitations  of  the  bodily  sense,  to  "  surpass  the  flaming 
walls  of  the  world  "  material,  to  "  traverse  in  spirit  the  whole 
immensity  "  of  existence,  and — returning — "  to  bring  back 
to  men  the  knowledge  of  possible  and  impossible."  It  has 
been  reserved  for  the  present  age  to  produce  the  Materialist 
of  a  humanity  so  stunted  and  meagre  that  he  knows  not  the 
meaning  or  value  of  enthusiasm,  and  in  his  ignorance  makes 
of  it  a  scoff. 

Part  IV 

40.  Accepting  without  limitation  or  reserve  the  dictum 
— already  cited — that  "  nothing  imperceptible  is  real,"  the 
Mystic  applies  it  in  respect  of  the  most  recondite  of  all 
subjects  of  thought,  namely.  Deity,  and  both  modes — the 
mental  and  the  sensible — of  perception.  In  doing  this,  he 
claims  the  justification  of  his  own  personal  experience. 
For  not  only  can  he  think  God,  he  can  also  see  God ;  the 
mind  with  which  he  does  the  first  being  a  mind  purified 
from  obscuration  by  Matter ;  and  the  eyes  with  which  he 
does  the  last  being  those  of  a  more  or  less  regenerate  self 
Of  the  seers  of  all  ages  the  supreme  beatific  experience — 
that  which  has  constituted  for  them  the  crowning  confirma- 
tion of  their  doctrine  concerning  not  only  the  being  but  the 
nature  of  Deity — has  been  the  vision  of  God  as  the  Lord. 
For  those  to  whom  this  vision  has  been  vouchsafed,  hope 
the  most  sanguine  is  swallowed  up  in  realisation  the  most 
complete  ;  beHef  the  most  implicit  is  merged  in  sight  the 
most  vivid ;  and  knowledge  the  most  absolute  is  attained, 
that  the  ''kingdom  of  heaven  is"  in  very  truth  "within," 
and  that  the  king  thereof  is — where  alone  a  king  should  be 
—in  the  midst  of  his  kingdom. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  289 

41.  And  yet  more  than  this.  By  the  vision  of  God  as 
the  Lord,  the  seer  knows  also  that  of  this  celestial  kingdom 
within,  the  King  is  also  the  Qaeen  ;  that,  in  respect  of  form 
no  less  than  of  substance,  man  is  created  in  God's  "own 
image,  male  and  female ; "  and  that  in  ascending  to  and 
becoming  "one  with  the  Father,"  man  ascends  to  and 
becomes  one  with  the  Mother.  For  in  the  form  beheld  in 
the  vision  oi  Adonai^  both  HE  and  SHE  are  manifested. 
Who,  then,  is  Adonai?  This  is  a  question  the  reply  to 
which  involves  the  Mystery  of  the  Trinity. 

42.  Manifestation— it  has  already  been  explained — is  by 
generation.  Now  generation  is  not  of  one  but  of  twain. 
And  inasmuch  as  that  which  is  generated  partakes  the 
nature  of  the  generators,  it  also  is  dual.  That,  then,  which 
in  the  current  presentation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is 
termed  the  Father  and  First  Person  in  the  Godhead,  is 
really  the  Father-Mother.  And  that  which  is  theologically 
said  to  be  begotten  of  them  and  called  the  Second  Person 
and  Son,  is  also  dual,  being  not  "  Son  "  merely,  but  proto- 
type of  both  sexes,  and  called  in  token  thereof  lo,  Je- 
hovah, El  Shaddai,  Adonai, — names,  each  of  which  implies 
duality. 

43  Having  for  Father  the  Spirit  which  is  Life,  and  for 
Mother  the  "  Great  Deep "  which  is  Substance,  Adonai 
possesses  the  potency  of  both,  and  wields  the  dual  powers 
of  all  things.  And  from  the  Godhead  thus  constituted  pro- 
ceeds, through  Adonai,  the  uncreated  creative  Spirit,  the 
informer  and  fashioner  of  all  things.  This  Spirit  it  is  Who, 
theologically,  is  called  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  Third 
Person,  the  aspect  of  God  as  the  Mother  having  been 
ignored  or  suppressed  by  a  priesthood  desirous  of  preserving 
a  purely  masculine  conception  of  the  Godhead.  By  the 
above  presentation  both  the  Churches,  Eastern  and  Western, 

U 


290  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

are  right  in  what  they  affirm  respecting  the  procession  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  wrong  m  what  they  deny. 

44.  This,  the  necessary  method  of  the  divine  evolution 
and  procession,  for  both  Macrocosm  and  Microcosm,  is  duly 
set  forth  in  the  very  commencement  of  the  book  of  Genesis ; 
being  expressed  in  the  words : — And  the  Spirit  of  Goa 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  Waters :  and  God  SAID,  Let 
there  be  Light,  and  there  was  Lights  For,  whenever  and 
wherever  creation — or  manifestation  by  generation — occurs, 
God  the  Father  co-operates  with  God  the  Mother — as  Force, 
moving  in  Substance — and  produces  the  Utterance,  Word, 
Logos,  or  Adonai — at  once  God  and  the  Expression  of 
God.  And  of  this  Logos  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  turn,  is  the 
Expression  or  creative  medium.  For,  as  Adonai  is  the 
Word  or  Expression  whereby  is  manifested  God,  so  the 
Holy  Spirit,  or  Primal  Light, — Itself  Sevenfold, — is  the 
Radiance  whereby  is  revealed  and  manifested  the  Lord. 
Now  the  manifestation  of  the  Lord — which  also  is  the 
manifestation  of  God— occurs  through  the  working  in  Sub- 
stance of  the  Elohim  or  Seven  Spirits  of  God— enumerated 
in  our  second  discourse — from  Whose  number  fiirst  of  all  the 
number  seven  derives  its  sanctity.  They  are  the  Powers 
under  Whose  immediate  superintendence  Creation,  whether 
of  great  or  small,  occurs.  And  of  Them  is  the  whole  of 
the  Divine  Substance  pervaded, — the  Substance  of  all  that 
is. 

"  These  are  the  Divine  Fires  which  burn  before  the  Presence 
of  God ;  which  proceed  from  the  Spirit,  and  are  One  with  the 
Spirit. 

"  God  is  divided,  yet  not  diminished ;  God  is  All,  and  God 
is  One. 

"  For  the  Spirit  of  God  is  a  Flame  of  Fire  which  the 
Word  of  God  divideth  into  many  ;  yet  the  Origi?ial  Flame 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  291 

is  not  decreased^  nor  the  Power  thereof y  nor  the  Brightness 
thereof  lessened. 

**  Thou  may  est  light  many  lamps  from  the  flame  of  one ; 
yet  thou  dost  in  nothing  diminish  that  first  flame. 

"  Now  the  Spirit  of  God  is  expressed  by  the  Word  of  God 
which  is  Adonai." 

45.  This  then  is  the  order  of  the  Divine  Procession. 
First  the  Unity,  or  "  Darkness  *'  of  the  "  Invisible  Light." 
Second,  the  Duality,  the  Spirit  and  the  Deep,  or  Energy 
and  Space.  Thirdly,  the  Trinity,  the  Father,  the  Mother, 
and  Their  joint  expression  or  "AVord."  Last,  the  Plurality, 
the  Sevenfold  Light  and  Elohim  of  God.  Such  is  the 
**  generation  "  of  the  Heavens  or  celestial  region,  both  in 
the  universal  and  in  the  individual.  And  within  the 
experience  of  each  individual  lies  the  possibility  of  the 
verification  thereof.  For  in  due  time,  to  each  who  seeks 
for  it,  "  the  Holy  Spirit  teaches  all  things  and  brings  all 
things  to  remembrance^ 

46.  The  Logos,  or  Adonai,  is  then  God's  Idea  of  God's 
Self,  the  Formulated,  Personified  Thought  of  the  Divine 
Mind.  And  whereas  God  makes  nothing  save  through  this 
Idea,  it  is  said  of  Adonai, — 

"  By  Him  all  things  are  made^  and  without  Him  is  not 
anything  made  which  is  made. 

^^  He  is  the  true  Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that 
Cometh  into  the  world. 

"  He  is  in  the  worlds  and  the  world  is  made  by  Him^  and 
the  woj'ld  knoweth  Him  not. 

"  But  as  many  as  receive  Him^  to  them  He  giveth  power 
to  become  Sons  of  God,  even  to  the?n  that  believe  on  His 
Name. 

"  He  is  in  the  Beginning  with  God,  and  He  is  God.  He 
is  the  Manifestor  by  Whom  all  things  are  discovered. 


292  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

"  And  without  Him  is  not  anything  made  which  is  visible, 

"  God  the  nameless  doth  not  reveal  God:  but  Adofiai 
revealeth  God  from  the  Beginning. 

**  Adonai  dissolveth  and  resumeth :  in  His  two  hands  are 
the  dual  powers  of  all  things  ; 

"  HaviJig  the  potency  of  both  in  Himself;  and  being  Him- 
self i?ivisible,  for  He  is  the  Cause,  a?id  not  the  Effect. 

"  He  is  the  Manifestor ;  and  not  that  which  is  mafiifest, 

**  That  which  is  manifest  is  the  Divine  Substance. 

"  Every  Monad  thereof  hath  the  potency  of  twain;  as  God 
is  Twain  in  One. 

"  And  every  Mo7iad  which  is  manifest,  is  mafiifest  by  the 
evolution  of  its  Trinity. 

**  Eor  thus  only  can  it  bear  record  of  itself  and  become 
cogfiisable  as  an  Entity. ^^  ^ 

*  As  man,  made  in  the  "  image "  'of  Adonai,  is  the  expression  of 
God,  so  is  the  expression  or  countenance  of  man  the  express  image  of 
God's  nature,  and  bears  in  its  features  the  impress  of  the  celestial, 
showing  him  to  be  thence  derived.  Thus,  in  the  human  face,  by  the 
straight,  central,  protruding,  and  vertical  line  of  the  organ  of  respir- 
ation,  is  denoted  Individuality,  the  divine  Ego,  the  I  AM,  of  the  man. 
Though  single  exteriorly,  and  constituting  one  organ,  in  token  of  the 
Divine  Unity,  v^'ithin  it  is  dual,  having  a  double  function,  and  two 
nostrils  in  which  resides  the  power  of  the  Breath  or  Spirit,  and  which 
represent  the  Divine  Duality.  T^iis  duality  finds  its  especial  symboli- 
sation  in  the  two  spheres  of  the  eyes,  which — placed  on  a  level  with 
the  summit  of  the  nose — denote  respectively  Intelligence  and  Love,  or 
Father  and  Mother,  as  the  supreme  elements  of  Being.  Though 
exteriorly  two,  interiorly  they  are  one,  as  vision  is  one.  And  of  the 
harmonious  co-operation  of  the  two  personalities  represented  by  them, 
proceeds,  as  child,  a  third  personality,  which  is  their  joint  expression 
or  •'  Word."  Of  this  the  Mouth  is  at  once  the  organ  and  symbol, 
being  in  itself  Dual, — when  closed  a  line,  when  open  a  circle  ;  and  also 
twofold,  being  compounded  of  line  and  circle  in  the  tongue  and  lips. 
And  as  the  place  of  issue  of  the  creative  breath,  it  is  below  the  other 
features,  since  creation,  in  coming  from  the  Highest,  is  in  its  direction 
necessarily  downwards.  Thus,  in  the  countenance  of  the  "Image  of 
God,"  is  expressed  the  nature  of  God, — even  the  Holy  Trinity.  For 
"these  three  are  one,"  being  essential  modes  of  the  sanue  Being. 


Lect.  IX.]  THE   DIVINE  IMAGE.  293 

Part  V. 

47.  We  come  to  that  which,  both  in  its  nature  and  in  its 
import,  is  the  most  stupendous  fact  of  mystical  experience, 
and  the  crowning  experience  of  seers  in  all  ages  from  the 
remotest  antiquity  to  the  present  day.  This  is  the  Vision 
of  Adonai,  a  vision  which  proves  that  not  only  subjectively 
but  objectively,  not  only  mentally  and  theoretically,  but 
sensibly  and  actually,  God,  as  the  Lord,  is  present  and 
cognisable  in  each  individual,  ever  operating  to  build  him 
up  in  the  Divine  Image,  and  succeeding  so  far — and  only 
so  far — as  the  individual,  by  making  the  Divine  Will  his 
own  will,  consents  to  co-operate  with  God. 

48.  In  respect  of  this  vision,  it  matters  not  whether  the 
seer  have  previous  experience  or  knowledge  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  for  the  result  is  altogether  irrespective  of  anticipation. 
It  is  possible  to  him  when — having  purified  his  system, 
mental  and  physical,  from  all  deteriorative  and  obstructive 
elements — he  thinks  inwardly,  desires  intensely,  and  im- 
agines centrally,  resolved  that  nothing  shall  bar  his  ascent 
to  his  own  highest  and  entrance  to  his  own  innermost. 
Doing  this,  and  abstracting  himself  from  the  outer  world  of 
the  phenomenal,  he  enters  first  the  astral,  where,  more  or 
hss  clearly,  according  to  the  measure  of  his  percipience,  he 
discerns  successively  the  various  spheres  of  its  fourfold 
zone,  together  with  their  denizens.  In  the  process  he 
seems  to  himself,  while  still  individual,  to  have  lost  the 
limitations  of  the  finite,  and  to  have  become  expanded  into 
the  universal.  For,  while  traversing  the  several  successive 
concentric  spheres  of  his  own  being,  and  mounting,  as  by 
the  steps  of  a  ladder,  from  one  to  another,  he  is  as  palpably 
traversing  also  those  not  of  the  solar  system  only,  but  of 
the  whole  universe  of  being ;  and  that  which  ultimately  he 


294  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

reaches,  is,  manifestly,  the  centre  of  each,  the  initial  point 
of  radiation  of  himself  and  of  all  things. 

49.  Meanwhile,  under  the  impulsion  of  the  mighty  enthu- 
siasm engendered  in  him  of  the  Spirit,  the  component  con- 
sciousnesses of  his  system  become  more  and  more  completely 
polarised  towards  their  Divine  centre,  and  the  animating, 
Divine  Spirit  of  the  man,  from  being  diffused,  latent,  and 
formless,  becomes  concentred,  manifest,  and  definite.  For, 
bent  on  the  highest,  the  astral  does  not  long  detain  him ; 
and  soon  he  passes  the  Cherubim — the  guardians  from 
without  of  the  celestial — and  enters  within  the  veil  of  the 
holy  of  holies.  Here  he  finds  himself  amid  a  company 
innumerable  of  beings  each  manifestly  divine ;  for  they  are 
the  angels  and  archangels,  principalities  and  powers,  and 
all  the  hierarchy  of  the  "  Heavens."  Pressing  on,  through 
these  towards  the  centre,  he  next  finds  himself  in  presence 
of  a  light  so  intolerable  in  its  lustre  as  well-nigh  to  beat 
him  back  from  further  quest.  And  of  those  who  reach 
thus  far,  many  adventure  no  farther,  but,  appalled,  retire, 
well  content,  nevertheless,  to  have  been  privileged  to  a[>- 
proach,  and  actually  to  behold,  the  "  Great  White  Throne  " 
of  the  Almighty. 

50.  Enshrined  in  this  light  is  a  Form  radiant  and  glorious 
beyond  all  power  of  expression.  For  it  is  "made  of  the 
Substance  of  Light ; "  and  the  form  is  that  of  the  "Only 
Begotten,"  the  Logos,  the  Idea,  the  Manifestor  of  God,  the 
Personal  Reason  of  all  existence,  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts, 
the  Lord  Adonai.  From  the  right  hand  upraised  in  attitude 
indicative  of  will  and  command,  proceeds,  as  a  stream  of 
living  force,  the  Holy  Life  and  Substance  whereby  and 
whereof  Creation  consists.  With  the  left  hand,  depressed 
and  open  as  in  attitude  of  recall,  the  stream  is  indrawn,  and 
Creation  is  sustained  and  redeemed.     Thus  projecting  and 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE,  295 

recalling,  expanding  and  contracting,  Adonai  fulfils  the 
functions  expressed  in  the  mystical  formula  Solve  et  Coagula, 
And  as  in  this,  so  also  in  constitution  and  form,  Adonai  is 
dual,  comprising  the  two  modes  of  humanity,  and  appearing 
to  the  beholder  alternately  masculine  and  feminine  accord- 
ing as  the  function  exercised  is  of  the  man  or  the  woman, 
and  is  centrifugal  or  centripetal.  And  as,  continuing  to 
gaze,  the  beholder  acquires  clearer  vision,  he  discovers  that, 
of  the  images  thus  combined,  while  one  is  manifested  the 
more  fully  exteriorly,  the  other  appertains  rather  to  the 
interior,  and  shines  in  a  measure  through  its  fellow,  itself 
remaining  meanwhile  in  close  contiguity  to  the  heart  and 
spirit.  And  whereas  of '  these  forms  the  inner  is  the 
feminine,  the  beholder  learns  that  of  the  two  modes  of 
humanity,  womanhood  is  the  nearer  to  God. 

51.  Such  is  the  **  vision  of  Adonai."  And  by  whatever 
name  denoted,  no  other  source,  centre,  sustenance,  or  true 
Self  can  mortal  or  immortal  find,  than  God  as  the  Lord 
Who  is  thus  beheld ;  and  no  other  can  he  who  has  once 
beheld  it — however  dimly  or  afar  off— desire.  For,  finding 
Adonai,  the  soul  is  content;  the  summit  and  centre  of 
Being  is  reached  ;  all  ideals  of  Truth,  Goodness,  Beauty, 
and  Power  are  realised ;  there  is  no  Beyond  to  which  to 
aspire.  For  All  is  in  Adonai ;  since  in  Adonai  dwells  the 
infinite  sea  of  Power  and  Wisdom  which  is  God.  And 
all  of  God  which  can  be  revealed,  all  that  the  soul  can 
grasp,  be  her  powers  expanded  as  they  may,  is  revealed  in 
Adonai. 

52.  Of  the  term  Adonai,  as  already  stated,  the  Hindii 
equivalent,  "  Ardha-Nari,"  is  represented  as  androgynous  in 
form.  But  the  personality  denoted  is  that  of  Brahm,  or 
pure  Being,  become  Brahma,  the  Lord.  And  of  the  Hindii 
"Trimurti,"   the   right   hand,  which    typifies   the   creative 


296  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

energy,  is  Vishnu ;  the  left,  which  represents  the  power  of 
dissolution  and  return,  is  Siva,  Adonai  Himself  being 
Brahma.  The  conditions  on  which  this  vision  is  vouch- 
safed are  thus  set  forth  for  the  benefit  of  his  "beloved 
disciple,"  Arjun,  by  the  "holy  one,"  Krishna : — "  Thou  hast 
beheld  this  My  wondrous  form,  so  difficult  of  apprehension, 
which  even  angels  may  in  vain  desire  to  see.  But  I  am 
not  to  be  seen  as  thou  hast  seen  Me,  by  means  of  mortifica- 
tions, of  sacrifices,  of  gifts,  of  alms.  I  am  to  be  seen  and 
truly  known,  and  to  be  obtained  by  means  of  that  worship 
which  is  offered  to  Me  alone.  He  whose  works  are  done 
for  Me  alone,  who  serves  Me  only,  who  cares  naught  for 
consequences,  and  who  dwelleth  among  men  without  hatred, 
— he  alone  cometh  unto  Me." 

Part  VI. 

53.  This  discourse  and  series  of  discourses  will  fitly  close 
with  an  exposition  of  the  relations  subsisting  between  the 
Adonai,  the  Christ,  and  the  Man. 

As  Adonai  the  Lord  is  the  manifestation  of  God  in  Sub- 
stance, so  Christ  is  the  manifestation  of  the  Lord  in  Humanity. 
The  former  occurs  by  Generation ;  the  latter  by  Regenera- 
tion. The  former  is  from  within,  outwards ;  the  latter  is 
from  below,  upwards.  Man,  ascending  by  evolution  from 
the  material  and  lowermost  stratum  of  existence,  finds  his 
highest  development  in  the  Christ.  This  is  the  point  where 
the  human  stream,  as  it  flows  upwards  into  God,  culminates. 
Reaching  this  point  by  regeneration,  man  is  at  once  Son  of 
Man  and  of  God,  and  is  perfect,  receiving  in  consequence 
the  baptism  of  the  Logos  or  Word,  Adonai  Being  now 
"  virgin  "  in  respect  of  matter,  and  quickened  by  the  "  one 
life,"  that  of  the  Spirit,  man  becomes  like  unto  God,  in  that 
he  has  the  "Gift  of  God,"  or  Eternal  Life  through  the 


Lect.  IX.]  THE  DIVINE  IMAGE.  297 

power  of  self-perpetuation.  The  Logos  is  celestial ;  the  man, 
terrestrial.  Christ  is  their  point  of  junction,  without  whom 
they  could  not  touch  each  other.  Attaining  to  this  point  by 
means  of  that  inward  purification  which  is  the  secret  and 
method  of  the  Christs,  the  man  receives  his  suffusion  by,  or 
"anointing"  of,  the  Spirit,  and  forthwith  has,  and  is, 
*' Christ."  Christhood  is  attained  by  the  reception  into 
man's  own  spirit  of  the  Logos.  This  accomplished,  the  two 
natures,  the  Divine  and  the  human,  combine ;  the  two 
streams,  the  ascending  and  the  descending,  meet ;  and  the 
man  knows  and  understands  God.  And  this  is  said  to  occur 
through  Christ,  because  for  every  man  it  occurs  according 
to  the  same  method,  Christ  being  for  all  alike  the  only  way. 
Having  received  the  Logos,  Who  is  Son  of  God,  the  man 
becomes  also  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  Son  of  Man,— this 
latter  title  being  his  in  virtue  of  his  representing  a  regener- 
ation or  new  birth  out  of  humanity.  And  the  Son  of  God 
in  him  reveals  to  him  the  "  Father,"  a  term  which  includes 
the  "  Mother."  Knowing  these,  he  knows  the  Life  and 
Substance  whereof  he  is  constituted, — knows,  therefore,  his 
own  nature  and  potentialities.  Thus  made  "  one  with  the 
Father,"  through  the  Son,  the  man  "  in  Christ "  can  say  truly, 
*•  I  and  the  Father  are  one."  This  is  the  import  of  the 
confession  of  Stephen.  "  Behold,"  he  cried  in  his  ecstasy, 
•*  I  see  the  heavens  open,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on 
the  right  hand  of  God."  For  at  that  supreme  moment  the 
Spirit  revealed  to  him,  in  visible  image,  the  union  through 
Christ  of  the  Human  and  the  Divine.  Attaining  to  this 
union,  man  becomes  "  Christ-Jesus  ;  "  "  he  dwells  in  God, 
and  God  in  him;"  he  is  "one  with  God  and  God  with  him." 
It  is  at  this  point— Christ — that  God  and  the  man  finally  lay 
hold  of  each  other  and  are  drawn  together.  Thenceforth 
they  flow,  as  two  rivers  united,  in  one  stream.     The  man  is 


298  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


finally  made  in  the  image  of  God ;  and  God,  as  the  Lord, 
is  eternally  manifested  in  him,  making  him  an  individuated 
portion  of  Divinity  itself.  Being  thereby  rendered  incap- 
able of  relapse  into  material  conditions,  he  is  called  a 
"  fixed  God," — a  state  which,  as  says  Hermes  in  the  Divine 
Pyraander,  "  is  the  most  perfect  glory  of  the  soul." 

54.  Recognising  thus  divine  truth  as  an  eternal  verity 
in  perpetual  process  of  realisation  by  the  individual  soul, 
and  the  words  Now  and  Within  as  the  keys  to  all  sacred 
mysteries,  the  Elect  translate  the  symbols  of  their  faith  into 
terms  of  the  present,  and  recite  accordingly  their  Credo  in 
this  wise : — 

"  I  believe  in  one  God,  the  Father  and  Mother  Almighty ; 
of  Whose  Substance  are  the  generations  of  Heaven  and 
of  Earth ;  and  in  Christ- Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  our  Lord ; 
who  is  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  j  suffereth  under  the  rulers  of  this  world  ;  is  crucified, 
dead,  and  buried  ;  who  descendeth  into  Plell ;  who  riseth 
again  from  the  dead ;  who  ascendeth  into  Heaven,  and 
sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  by  whose  law  the  quick 
and  the  dead  are  judged.  I  beheve  in  the  Seven  Spirits 
of  God ;  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven ;  the  communion  of  the 
Elect ;  the  passing-through  of  Souls  ;  the  redemption  erf 
the  Body ;  the  Life  everlasting ;  and  the  Amen." 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDICES. 


NO.  I. 

CONCERNING  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 
{A   FRAGMENT) 

Part  i. 

"If,  therefore,  they  be  Mystic  Books,  they  ought  also  to 
have  a  Mystic  Consideration.  But  the  Fault  of  most  Writers 
lieth  in  this,— that  they  distinguish  not  between  the  Books 
of  Moses  the  Prophet,  and  those  Books  which  are  of  an  his- 
torical Nature.  And  this  is  the  more  surprising  because 
not  a  few  of  such  Critics  have  rightly  discerned  the  esoteric 
Character,  if  not  indeed  the  true  Interpretation,  of  the  Story 
of  Eden  ;  yet  have  they  not  apphed  to  the  Remainder  of 
the  Allegory  the  same  Method  which  they  found  to  fit  the 
Beginning ;  but  so  soon  as  they  are  over  the  earlier  Stanzas 
of  the  Poem,  they  would  have  the  Rest  of  it  to  be  of  another 
Nature. 

*'  It  is,  then,  pretty  well  established  and  accepted  of  most 
Authors,  that  the  Legend  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  of  the 
Miraculous  Tree  and  the  Fruit  which  was  the  Occasion  of 
Death,  is,  like  the  Story  of  Eros  and  Psyche,  and  so  many 
others  of  all  Religions,  a  Parable  with  a  hidden,  that  is,  with 
a  Mystic  Meaning.    But  so  also  is  the  Legend  which  follows 


301  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

concerning  the  Sons  of  these  Mystical  Parents,  the  Story  of 
Cain  and  Abel  his  Brother,  the  Story  of  the  Flood,  of  the 
Ark,  of  the  saving  of  the  clean  and  unclean  Beasts,  of  the 
Rainbow,  of  the  twelve  Sons  of  Jacob,  and,  not  stopping 
there,  of  the  whole  Relation  concerning  the  Flight  out  of 
Egypt.  For  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  two  Sacrifices 
offered  to  God  by  the  Sons  of  Adam,  were  real  Sacrifices, 
any  more  than  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  Apple  which 
caused  the  Doom  of  Mankind  was  a  real  Apple.  It  ought 
to  be  known,  indeed,  for  the  right  Understanding  of  the 
Mystical  Books,  that  in  their  esoteric  Sense  they  deal,  not 
with  material  Things,  but  with  spiritual  Realities ;  and  thai 
as  Adam  is  not  a  Man,  nor  Eve  a  Woman,  nor  the  Tree  a 
Plant  in  its  true  Signification,  so  also  are  not  the  Beasts 
named  in  the  same  Books  real  Beasts,  but  that  the  Mystic 
Intention  of  them  is  implied.  When,  therefore,  it  is  written 
that  Abel  took  of  the  Firstlings  of  his  Flock  to  offer  unto  the 
Lord,  it  signified  that  he  offered  that  which  a  Lamb  implies, 
and  which  is  the  holiest  and  highest  of  spiritual  Gifts.  Nor 
is  Abel  himself  a  real  Person,  but  the  Type  and  spiritual 
Presentation  of  the  Race  of  the  Prophets ;  of  whom,  also, 
Moses  was  a  Member,  together  with  the  Patriarchs.  Were 
the  Prophets,  then,  Shedders  of  Blood  ?  God  forbid  ;  they 
dealt  not  with  Things  material,  but  with  spiritual  Significa- 
tions. Their  Lambs  without  Spot,  their  white  Doves,  their 
Goats,  their  Rams,  and  other  sacred  Creatures,  are  so  many 
Signs  and  Symbols  of  the  various  Graces  and  Gifts  which  a 
Mystic  People  should  offer  to  Heaven.  Without  such 
Sacrifices  is  no  Remission  of  Sin.  But  when  the  Mystic 
Sense  was  lost,  then  Carnage  followed,  the  Prophets 
ceased  out  of  the  Land,  and  the  Priests  bore  rule  over  the 
People.  Then,  when  again  the  Voice  of  the  Prophets 
arose,  they  were  constrained  to  speak  plainly,  and  declared 


APPENDIX  /.  303 


in  a  Tongue  foreign  to  their  Method,  that  the  Sacrifices  of 
God  are  not  the  Flesh  of  Bulls  or  the  Blood  of  Goats, 
but  holy  Vows  and  sacred  Thanksgivings,  their  Mystical 
Counterparts.  As  God  is  a  Spirit,  so  also  are  His  Sacrifices 
Spiritual.  What  Folly,  what  Ignorance,  to  offer  material 
Flesh  and  Drink  to  pure  power  and  essential  Being! 
Surely  in  vain  have  the  Prophets  spoken,  and  in  vain  have 
the  Christs  been  manifested  ! 

**  Why  will  you  have  Adam  to  be  Spirit  and  Eve  Matter, 
since  the  Mystic  Books  deal  only  with  spiritual  Entities  ? 
The  Tempter  himself  even  is  not  Matter,  but  that  which 
gives  Matter  the  Precedence.  Adam  is,  rather,  intellectual 
Force  :  he  is  of  Earth.  Eve  is  the  moral  Conscience  :  she 
is  the  Mother  of  the  Living.  Intellect,  then,  is  the  male, 
and  Intuition  the  female  Principle.  And  the  Sons  of 
Intuition,  herself  fallen,  shall  at  last  recover  Truth  and 
redeem  all  Things.  By  her  Fault,  indeed,  is  the  moral 
Conscience  of  Humanity  made  subject  to  the  intellectual 
Force,  and  thereby  all  Manner  of  Evil  and  Confusion 
abounds,  since  her  Desire  is  unto  him,  and  he  rules  over  her 
until  now.  But  the  End  foretold  by  the  Seer  is  not  far  off. 
Then  shall  the  Woman  be  exalted,  clothed  with  the  Sun,  and 
carried  to  the  Throne  of  God.  And  her  Sons  shall  make 
War  with  the  Dragon,  and  have  Victory  over  him.  Intui- 
tion, therefore,  pure  and  a  Virgin,  shall  be  the  Mother  and 
Redemptress  of  her  fallen  Sons,  whom  she  bore  under 
Bondage  to  her  Husband  the  intellectual  Force." 

Part  2. 

"  Moses,  therefore,  knowing  the  Mysteries  of  the  Religion 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  having  learned  of  their  Occultists  the 


304  THE  PERFECT   WAY, 

Value  and  Signification  of  all  sacred  Birds  and  Beasts,  de- 
livered like  Mysteries  to  his  own  People.  But  certain  of  the 
sacred  Animals  of  Egypt  he  retained  not  in  Honour,  for 
Motives  which  were  equally  of  Mystic  Origin.  And  he 
taught  his  Initiated  the  Spirit  of  the  heavenly  Hieroglyphs, 
and  bade  them,  when  they  made  Festival  before  God,  to 
carry  with  them  in  Procession,  with  IMusic  and  with  Dancing, 
such  of  the  sacred  Animals  as  were,  by  their  interior  Signifi- 
cance, related  to  the  Occasion.  Now,  of  these  Beasts,  he 
chiefly  selected  Males  of  the  first  Year,  without  Spot  or 
Blemish,  to  signify  that  it  is  beyond  all  Things  needful  that 
Man  should  dedicate  to  the  Lord  his  Intellect  and  his 
Reason,  and  this  from  the  Beginning  and  without  the  least 
Reserve.  And  that  he  was  very  wise  in  teaching  this,  is 
evident  from  the  History  of  the  World  in  all  Ages,  and  par- 
ticularly in  these  last  Days.  For  what  is  it  that  has  led  Men 
to  renounce  the  Realities  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  propagate  false 
Theories  and  corrupt  Sciences,  denying  all  Things  save  the 
Appearance  which  can  be  apprehended  by  the  outer  Senses, 
and  making  themselves  one  with  the  Dust  of  the  Ground  ? 
It  is  their  Intellect  which,  being  unsanctified,  has  led  them 
astray ;  it  is  the  Force  of  the  Mind  in  them,  which,  being 
corrupt,  is  the  Cause  of  their  own  Ruin,  and  of  that  of  their 
Disciples.  As,  then,  the  Intellect  is  apt  to  be  the  great 
Traitor  against  Heaven,  so  also  is  it  the  Force  by  which 
Men,  following  their  pure  Intuition,  may  also  grasp  and 
apprehend  the  Truth.  For  which  Reason  it  is  written  that 
the  Christs  are  subject  to  their  Mothers.  Not  that  by  any 
means  the  Intellect  is  to  be  dishonoured ;  for  it  is  the  Heir 
of  all  Things,  if  only  it  be  truly  begotten  and  be  no  Bas- 
tard. 

"  And  besides  all  these  Syjcibols,  Moses  taught  the  People 


APPENDIX  L  305 


to  have  beyond  all  Things  an  Abhorrence  of  Idolatry. 
What,  then,  is  Idolatry,  and  what  are  False  Gods  ? 

**  To  make  an  Idol  is  to  materialise  spiritual  Mysteries. 
The  Priests,  then,  were  Idolaters,  who,  coming  after  Moses, 
and  committing  to  Writing  those  Things  which  he  by  Word 
of  Mouth  had  delivered  unto  Israel,  replaced  the  true 
Things  signified,  by  their  material  Symbols,  and  shed  inno- 
cent Blood  on  the  pure  Altars  of  the  Lord. 

"  They  also  are  Idolaters,  who  understand  the  Things  of 
Sense  where  the  Things  of  the  Spirit  are  alone  implied,  and 
who  conceal  the  true  Features  of  the  Gods  with  material 
and  spurious  Presentations.  Idolatry  is  Materialism,  the 
common  and  original  Sin  of  Men,  which  replaces  Spirit 
by  Appearance,  Substance  by  Illusion,  and  leads  both  the 
moral  and  intellectual  Being  into  Error,  so  that  they  substi- 
tute the  Nether  for  the  Upper,  and  the  Depth  for  the  Height 
It  is  that  false  Fruit  which  attracts  the  outer  Senses,  the 
Bait  of  the  Serpent  in  the  Beginning  of  the  World.  Until 
the  Mystic  Man  and  Woman  had  eaten  of  this  Fruit,  they 
knew  only  the  Things  of  the  Spirit,  and  found  them  suffice. 
But  after  their  Fall,  they  began  to  apprehend  Matter  also, 
and  gave  it  the  Preference,  making  themselves  Idolaters. 
And  their  Sin,  and  the  Taint  begotten  of  that  false  Fruit, 
have  corrupted  the  Blood  of  the  whole  Race  of  Men,  from 
which  Corruption  the  Sons  of  God  would  have  redeemed 
them.* 


No.  II. 

CONCERNING  THE  HEREAFTER. 

When  a  man  parts  at  death  with  his  material  body,  that 
of  him  which  survives  is  divisible  into  three  parts,  the 
anima  divina  or,  as  in  the  Hebrew,  Neshamah  ;  the  anima 
bruta,  or  Ruach,  which  is  the  persona  of  the  man  ;  and  the 
shade,  or  Nephesh^  which  is  the  lowest  mode  of  soul-sub- 
stance. In  the  great  majority  of  persons  the  consciousness 
is  gathered  up  and  centered  in  the  anima  bruta^  or  Ruach  ; 
in  the  few  wise  it  is  polarised  in  the  anima  divina.  Now, 
that  part  of  man  which  passes  through,  or  transmigrates, — 
the  process  whereof  is  called  by  the  Hebrews  Gilgal  Nesha- 
mothj — is  the  anima  divina  which  is  the  immediate  recep- 
tacle of  the  deific  Spirit.  And  whereas  there  is  in  the  world 
nothing  save  the  human,  actual  or  potential,  the  Neshamah 
subsists  also  in  animals,  though  only  as  a  mere  spark,  their 
consciousness  being  therefore  rudimentary  and  diffuse.  It 
is  the  Neshamah  which  finally  escapes  from  the  world  and 
is  redeemed  into  eternal  Hfe.  The  ani?na  bruta  or  earthly 
mind,  is  that  part  of  man  which  retains  all  earthly  and  local 
memories,  reminiscent  affections,  cares  and  personalities  of 
the  world  or  planetary  sphere,  and  bears  his  family  or  earth- 
name.  After  death  this  anima  bruta,  or  Ruach,  remains  in 
the  "lower  Eden,"  within  sight  and  call  of  the  magnetic 
earth-sphere.  But  the  anima  divina^  the  Neshamah, — the 
name  of  which  is  known  only  to  God, — passes  upwards  and 

3o6 


APPENDIX  II,  307 


continues  its  evolutions,  bearing  with  it  only  a  small  por- 
tion, and  that  the  purest,  of  the  outer  soul,  or  mind.  This 
anima  divina  is  the  true  Man.  It  is  not  within  hail  of  the 
magnetic  atmosphere;  and  only  on  the  rarest  and  most 
solemn  occasions,  does  it  return  to  the  planet  unclothed. 
The  astral  shade,  the  Nephesh,  is  dumb  ;  the  earthly  soul, 
the  anima  bruta,  or  Ruach^  speaks  and  remembers;  the 
divine  soul,  the  Neshamah^  which  contains  the  di  vine  Light, 
neither  returns  nor  communicates,  that  is,  in  the  ordinary 
way.  That  which  the  anima  bruta  remembers,  is  the  his- 
tory of  one  incarnation  only,  because  it  is  part  of  the  astral 
man,  and  the  astral  man  is  renewed  at  every  incarnation  of 
the  Neshamah.  But  very  advanced  men  become  re-incar- 
nate, not  on  this  planet,  but  on  some  other  nearer  the  Sun. 
The  anima  bruta  has  lived  but  once,  and  will  never  be  re- 
incarnate. It  continues  in  the  "  lower  Eden,"  a  personaUty 
in  relation  to  the  earth,  and  retaining  the  memories,  both 
good  and  bad,  of  its  one  past  Hfe.  If  it  have  done  evil,  it 
suffers  indeed,  but  is  not  condemned ;  if  it  have  done  well, 
it  is  happy,  but  not  beatified.  It  continues  in  thought  its 
favourite  pursuits  of  earth,  and  creates  for  itself  houses, 
gardens,  flowers,  books,  and  so  forth,  out  of  the  astral  light. 
It  remains  in  this  condition  more  or  less  strongly  defined, 
according  to  the  personality  it  had  acquired,  until  the  anima 
divina^  one  of  whose  temples  it  was,  has  accomplished  all 
its  Avatars.  Then,  with  all  the  other  earthly  souls  belong- 
ing to  that  divine  soul,  it  is  drawn  up  into  the  celestial 
Eden,  or  upper  heaven,  and  returns  into  the  essence  of  the 
Neshamah.  But  all  of  it  does  not  return;  only  the  good 
memories ;  the  bad  sink  to  the  lowest  stratum  of  the  astral 
light,  where  they  disintegrate.  For,  if  the  divine  soul  were 
permanently,  in  its  perfected  state,  to  retain  the  memories 
of  all  its  evil  doings,  its  misfortunes,  its   earthly  griefs,  its 


308  7 HE  PERFECT   WAY. 

earthly  loves,  it  would  not  be  perfectly  happy.  Therefore 
only  those  loves  and  memories  return  to  the  Neshamahy 
which  have  penetrated  the  earthly  soul  sufficiently  to  reach 
the  divine  soul,  and  to  make  part  of  the  man.  It  is  said 
that  all  Marriages  are  made  in  Heaven.  This  means  that 
all  true  Love-unions  are  made  in  the  Celestial  within  the 
man.  The  mere  affections  of  the  anima  hruta  are  evanes- 
cent, and  belong  only  to  it.  When  this,  the  Ruach^  is 
interrogated,  it  can  speak  only  of  one  life,  for  it  has  lived 
but  one.  Of  that  one  it  retains  all  the  memories  and  all 
the  affections.  If  these  have  been  strong,  it  remains  near 
those  persons  whom  especially  it  loved,  and  overshadows 
them.  A  single  Neshamah  may  have  as  many  of  these 
former  selves  in  the  astral  light,  as  a  man  may  have  changes 
of  raiment.  But  when  the  divine  soul  is  perfected  and 
about  to  be  received  into  "  the  Sun,"  or  Nirvana,  she  in- 
draws  all  these  past  selves,  and  possesses  herself  of  their 
memories ;  but  only  of  the  worthy  parts  of  these,  and  such 
as  will  not  deprive  her  of  eternal  calm.  In  "  the  planets," 
the  soul  forgets  ;  in  "  the  Suns,"  she  remembers.  For,  in 
memorid  ceternd  erit  Justus}  Not  until  a  man  has  accomp- 
lished his  regeneration,  and  become  a  son  of  God,  a  Christ, 
can  he  have  these  memories  of  his  past  lives.  Such 
memories  as  a  man,  on  the  upward  path,  can  have  of  his 
past  incarnations,  are  by  reflection  only ;  and  the  memories 
are  not  of  events  usually,  but  of  principles  and  truths  and 
habits  formerly  acquired.  If  these  memories  relate  to 
events,  they  are  vague  and  fitful,  because  they  are  reflec- 
tions from  the  overshadowing  of  his  former  selves  in  the 
astral  light  For  the  former  selves,  the  deserted  temples 
of  the  anima  divina,  frequent  her  sphere  and  are  attracted 

»P».A.V.cxiL,  D.V.  cxi.  4^ 


APPENDIX  li.  309 


towards  her,  especially  under  certain  conditions.  From 
them  she  learns  through  the  intermediary  of  the  Genius,  or 
'*  Moon,"  who  lights  up  the  carter  a  obscura  of  the  mind,  and 
reflects  on  its  tablet  the  memories  cast  by  the  overshadow- 
ing Past.  The  a?itma  bruta  seems  to  itself  to  progress, 
because  it  has  a  vague  sense  that  sooner  or  later  it  will  be 
lifted  to  higher  spheres.  Bur.  of  the  method  of  this  it  is 
ignorant,  because  it  can  only  icnow  the  Celestial  by  union 
with  it.  The  learning  which  makes  it  seem  to  itself  to 
progress,  is  acquired  by  reflect  id  soul-rays  coming  from  the 
terrestrial.  Advanced  men  on  the  earth  assist  and  teach 
the  astral  soul,  and  hence  its  fondness  for  their  spheres. 
It  learns  by  reflected  intellectual  images,  or  Thoughts. 
The  Ruach  is  right  when  it  sr„ys  it  is  immortal.  For  the 
better  part  of  it  will  in  the  enci  be  absorbed  into  the  Nesh- 
amah.  But  if  one  interrogate  a  Ruach  of  even  two  or  three 
centuries  old,  it  seldom  kno\v's  more  than  it  knew  in  its 
earth-life,  unless,  indeed,  it  gain  fresh  knowledge  from  its 
interrogator.  The  reason  why  some  communications  are 
astral,  and  others  celestial,  is  simply  that  some  persons — 
the  greater  number — communicate  by  means  of  the  aiiima 
bruta  in  themselves,  and  others — the  few  purified— by 
means  of  their  anima  divina.  For,  Like  attracts  Like.  The 
earthly  souls  of  animals  are  rarely  met  with  ;  they  come 
into  communion  with  animals  rather  than  with  man,  unless 
an  affection  between  a  man  and  an  animal  have  been  very 
strong.  If  a  man  would  meet  and  recognise  his  Beloved 
in  Nirvana^  he  must  make  his  aflection  one  of  the  Nesh- 
amahy  not  of  the  Ruach.  There  are  many  degrees  of  Lova 
True  Love  is  stronger  than  a  thousand  deaths.  For  though 
one  die  a  thousand  times,  a  single  Love  may  yet  perpetuate 
itself  past  every  death  from  birth  to  birth,  growing  and  cul- 
minating in  intensity  and  might 


3IO  THE  PERFECl    WAY. 

Now  all  these  three,  Nephesh,  Ruach,  and  Neshamah, 
are  discrete  modes  of  one  and  the  same  universal  Being 
which  is  at  once  Life  and  Substance  and  is  instinct  with 
Consciousness,  inasmuch  as  it  is,  under  whatever  mode, 
Holy  Spirit.  Wherefore  there  inheres  in  them  all  a  Divine 
potency.  Evolution,  which  is  the  manifestation  of  that 
which  is  inherent,  is  the  manifestation  of  this  potency. 
The  first  formulation  of  this  inherency,  above  the  plane  of 
the  material,  is  the  Nephesh,  this  being  the  soul  by  which 
are  impelled  the  lower  and  earlier  forms  of  life.  It  is  the 
*'  moving "  soul  that  breathes  and  kindles.  The  next — 
the  Ruach — is  the  "  Wind  "  that  rushes  forth  to  vivify  the 
mind.  Higher,  because  more  inward  and  central,  is  the 
Neshamah,  which,  borne  on  the  bosom  of  the  Ruach,  is  the 
immediate  receptacle  of  the  Divine  Particle,  and  without 
which  this  cannot  be  individuated  and  become  an  indiffus- 
ible  personality.  Both  the  "Wind"  and  the  "Flame" 
are  Spirit ;  but  the  Wind  is  general,  the  Flame  particular ; 
the  Wind  fills  the  House  ;  the  Flame  designates  the  Person. 
The  Wind  is  the  Divine  Voice  resounding  in  the  ear  of  the 
Apostle  and  passing  away  where  it  listeth ;  the  Flame  is  the 
Divine  Tongue  uttering  itself  in  the  word  of  the  Apostle. 
Thus,  then,  in  the  Soul  impersonal  are  perceived  the  breath 
and  afflatus  of  God ;  but  in  the  Soul  personal  is  formulate 
the  express  Utterance  of  God.  Now,  both  of  Nephesh 
and  Ruach  that  which  is  gathered  up  and  endures,  U 
Neshamah. 


NO.    III. 

CONCERNING  PROPHESYING ;  AND  A  PROPHECY, 

Part  i. 

concerning  prophesying. 

You  ask  the  method  and  nature  of   Inspiration,  and  the 
means  whereby  God  revealeth  the  Truth. 

2.  Know  that  there  is  no  enlightenment  from  without : 
the  secret  of  things  is  revealed  from  within. 

3.  From  without  cometh  no  Divine  Revelation  :  but  the 
Spirit  within  beareth  witness. 

4.  Think  not  I  tell  you  that  which  you  know  not :  for 
except  you  know  it,  it  cannot  be  given  to  you. 

5.  To  him  that  hath  it  is  given,  and  he  hath  the  more 
abundantly. 

6.  None  is  a  prophet  save  he  who  knoweth  :  the  Instructor 
of  the  people  is  a  man  of  many  lives. 

7.  Inborn  knowledge  and  the  Perception  of  things,  these 
are  the  sources  of  Revelation  :  the  Soul  of  the  man  in- 
structeth  him,  having  already  learned  by  experience. 

8.  Intuition  is  Inborn  Experience ;  that  which  the  Soul 
knoweth  of  old  and  of  former  years. 

9.  And  Illumination  is  the  Light  of  Wisdom,  whereby  a 
man  perceiveth  heavenly  secrets. 

10.  Which  Light  is  the  Spirit  of  God  within  the  man, 
showing  unto  him  the  things  of  God. 

11.  Think  not  that  I  tell  you  anything  you  know  not  j 

311 


312  7 HE  PERFECT  WAY. 

all  Cometh  from  within  :  the  Spirit  that  informeth  is  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  prophet. 

1 2.  What,  then,  you  ask,  is  the  Medium ;  and  how  are 
to  be  regarded  the  utterances  of  one  speaking  in  trance  ? 

13.  God  speaketh  through  no  man  in  the  way  you  sup- 
pose;  for  the  Spirit  of  the  Prophet  beholdeth  God  with 
open  eyes.  If  he  fall  into  a  trance,  his  eyes  are  open,  and 
his  interior  man  knoweth  what  is  spoken  by  him. 

14.  But  when  a  man  speaketh  that  which  he  knoweth 
not,  he  is  obsessed  :  an  impure  Spirit,  or  one  that  is  bound, 
hath  entered  into  him. 

15.  There  are  many  such,  but  their  words  are  as  the 
words  of  men  who  know  not :  these  are  not  prophets  nor 
inspired. 

16.  God  obsesseth  no  man  ;  God  is  revealed  :  and  he  to 
whom  God  is  revealed  speaketh  that  which  he  knoweth. 

17.  Christ  Jesus  ^  understandeth  God  :  he  knoweth  that 
of  which  he  beareth  witness. 

18.  But  they  who,  being  Mediums,  utter  in  trance  things 
of  which  they  have  no  knowledge,  and  of  which  their  own 
Spirit  is  uninformed :  these  are  obsessed  with  a  spirit  of 
divination,  a  strange  spirit,  not  their  own. 

19.  Of  such  beware,  for  they  speak  many  lies,  and  are 
deceivers,  working  often  for  gain  or  for  pleasure  sake :  and 
they  are  a  grief  and  a  snare  to  the  faithful. 

20.  Inspiration  may  indeed  be  mediumship,  but  it  is  con- 
scious ;  and  the  knowledge  of  the  prophet  instructeth  him. 

21.  Even  though  he  speak  in  an  ecstasy,  he  uttereth 
nothing  that  he  knoweth  not. 

22.  Thou  who  art  a  prophet  hast  had  many  lives  :  yea, 
thou  hast  taught  many  nations,  and  hast  stood  before  kings. 

^  Here  implying  the  Christ  Jesus  within,  namely,  the  regenerated 
human  nature  in  whomsoever  occurring. 


APPENDIX  III,  313 


23.  And  God  hath  instructed  thee  in  the  years  that  are 
past ;  and  in  the  former  times  of  the  earth. 

24.  By  prayer,  by  fasting,  by  meditation,  by  painful 
seeking,  hast  thou  attained  that  thou  knowest. 

25.  There  is  no  knowledge  but  by  labour :  there  is  no 
intuition  but  by  experience. 

26.  I  have  seen  thee  on  the  hills  of  the  East :  I  have 
followed  thy  steps  in  the  Wilderness :  I  have  seen  thee 
adore  at  sunrise :  I  have  marked  thy  night  watches  in  the 
caves  of  the  mountains. 

2  7.  Thou  hast  attained  with  patience,  O  prophet :  God 
hath  revealed  the  truth  to  thee  from  within. 

Part  2. 
a  prophecy. 

28.  And  now  I  show  you  a  Mystery  and  a  new  thing, 
Which  is  part  of  the  Mystery  of  the  Fourth  Day  of  Creation. 

29.  The  word  which  shall  come  to  save  the  world,  shall 
be  uttered  by  a  Woman. 

30.  A  Woman  shall  conceive,  and  shall  bring  forth  the 
tidings  of  Salvation. 

31.  For  the  reign  of  Adam  is  at  its  last  hour;  and  God 
shall  crown  all  things  by  the  creation  of  Eve. 

32.  Hitherto  the  Man  hath  been  alone,  and  hath  had 
dominion  over  the  earth. 

33.  But  when  the  Woman  shall  be  created,  God  shall 
give  unto  her  the  kingdom ;  and  she  shall  be  first  in  rule 
and  highest  in  dignity. 

34.  Yea,  the  last  shall  be  first ;  and  the  elder  shall  serve 
the  younger. 

35.  So  that  women  shall  no  more  lament  for  their  woman- 
hood :  but  men  shall  rather  say,  "  Oh  that  we  had  been 
born  women  I " 


314  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

36.  For  the  strong  shall  be  put  down  from  their  seat ; 
and  the  meek  shall  be  exalted  to  their  place. 

37.  The  days  of  the  Covenant  of  Manifestation  are  pass- 
ing away  :  the  Gospel  of  Interpretation  cometh. 

38.  There  shall  nothing  new  be  told ;  but  that  which  is 
ancient  shall  be  interpreted. 

39.  So  that  Man  the  Manifestor  shall  resign  his  office; 
and  Woman  the  Interpreter  shall  give  light  to  the  world. 

40.  Hers  is  the  Fourth  Office :  she  revealeth  that  which 
the  Lord  hath  manifested. 

41.  Hers  is  the  Light  of  the  Heavens,  and  the  brightest 
of  the  planets  of  the  Holy  Seven. 

42.  She  is  the  Fourth  Dimension  ;  the  Eyes  which  en- 
lighten j  the  Power  which  draweth  inward  to  God. 

43.  And  her  kingdom  cometh ;  the  day  of  the  exaltation 
of  Woman. 

44.  And  her  reign  shall  be  greater  than  the  reign  of  the 
Man  :  for  Adam  shall  be  put  down  from  his  place  \  and  she 
shall  have  dominion  for  ever. 

45.  And  she  who  is  alone  shall  bring  forth  more  children 
to  God,  than  she  who  hath  a  husband. 

46.  There  shall  no  more  be  a  reproach  against  women : 
but  against  men  shall  be  the  reproach. 

47.  For  the  Woman  is  the  crown  of  Man,  and  the  final 
manifestation  of  Humanity. 

48.  She  is  the  nearest  to  the  Throne  of  God,  when  she 
shall  be  revealed. 

49.  But  the  creation  of  Woman  is  not  yet  complete  :  but 
it  shall  be  complete  in  the  time  which  is  at  hand. 

50.  All  things  are  thine,  O  Mother  of  God :  all  things 
are  thine,  O  Thou  who  risest  from  the  Sea;  and  Thou 
shalt  have  dominion  over  all  the  worlds. 


No.  IV. 

CONCERNING  THE  NATURE  OF  SIN. 

As  is  the   Outer  so  is  the   Inner.   He  that  worketh  is 
One. 

2.  As  the  small  is,  so  is  the  great :  there  is  one  Law. 

3.  Nothing  is  small  and  nothing  is  great  in  the  Divine 
Economy. 

4.  If  thou  wouldst  understand  the  method  of  the  world's 
corruption,  and  the  condition  to  which  sin  hath  reduced  the 
work  of  God, 

5.  Meditate  upon  the  aspect  of  a  Corpse  ;  and  consider 
the  method  of  the  putrefaction  of  its  tissues  and  humours. 

6.  For  the  secret  of  Death  is  the  same,  whether  of  the 
Outer  or  of  the  Inner. 

7.  The  Body  dieth  when  the  Central  Will  of  its  system 
no  longer  bindeth  in  obedience  the  elements  of  its  Sub- 
stance. 

8.  Every  Cell  is  a  living  Entity,  whether  of  vegetable  or 
of  animal  potency. 

9.  In  the  healthy  body  every  Cell  is  polarised  in  subjec- 
tion to  the  Central  Will,  the  Adonai  of  the  physical  system. 

10.  Health,  therefore,  is  Order,  Obedience,  and  Govern- 
ment 

11.  But  wherever  Disease  is,  there  is  Disunion,  Rebellion, 
and  Insubordination. 

3«3 


3i6  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

12.  And  the  deeper  the  seat  of  the  confusion,  the  more 
dangerous  the  malady,  and  the  harder  to  quell  it. 

13.  That  which  is  superficial  may  be  more  easily  healed; 
or,  if  need  be,  the  disorderly  elements  may  be  rooted  out, 
and  the  body  shall  be  whole  and  at  unity  again. 

14.  But  if  the  disobedient  molecules  corrupt  each  other 
continually,  and  the  perversity  spread,  and  the  rebellious 
tracts  multiply  their  elements  ;  the  whole  body  shall  fall 
into  Dissolution,  which  is  Death. 

15.  For  the  Central  Will  that  should  dominate  all  the 
kingdom  of  the  body,  is  no  longer  obeyed  ;  and  every 
element  is  become  its  own  ruler,  and  hath  a  divergent  will 
of  its  own. 

16.  So  that  the  poles  of  the  cells  incline  in  divers  direct- 
tions ;  and  the  binding  power  which  is  the  life  of  the  body 
is  dissolved  and  destroyed. 

17.  And  when  Dissolution  is  complete,  then  follow 
Corruption  and  Putrefaction. 

18.  Now,  that  which  is  true  of  the  Physical,  is  true  like- 
wise of  its  prototype. 

19.  The  whole  world  is  full  of  Revolt;  and  every 
element  hath  a  will  divergent  from  God. 

20.  Whereas  there  ought  to  be  but  one  Will,  attracting 
and  ruling  the  whole  Man. 

21.  But  there  is  no  longer  Brotherhood  among  you  ;  nor 
Order,  nor  Mutual  Sustenance. 

22.  Every  Cell  is  its  own  Arbiter;  and  every  Member  is 
become  a  Sect. 

23.  Ye  are  not  bound  one  to  another :  ye  have  con- 
founded your  offices,  and  abandoned  your  functions. 

24.  Ye  have  reversed  the  direction  of  your  magnetic 
currents :  ye  are  fallen  into  confusion,  and  have  given  place 
to  the  Spirit  of  Misrule. 


APPENDIX  IV,  317 


25.  Your  Wills  are  many  and  diverse ;  and  every  one  of 
you  is  an  Anarchy. 

26.  A  house  that  is  divided  against  itself,  falleth. 

27.  O  wretched  Man;  who  shall  deliver  you  from  this 
body  of  Death? 


No.  V. 

CONCERNING  THE '*GREAT  WORK,"  THE  REDEMPTION, 
AND  THE  SHARE  OF  CHRIST  JESUS  THEREIN 

•*  For  this  cause  is  Christ  manifest,  that  he  may  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil." 

2.  In  this  text  of  the  holy  writings  is  contained  the 
explanation  of  the  mission  of  the  Christ,  and  the  nature  of 
the  Great  Work. 

3.  Now  the  devil,  or  old  serpent,  the  enemy  of  God,  is 
that  which  gives  pre-eminence  to  Matter. 

4.  He  is  disorder,  confusion,  distortion,  falsification, 
error.  He  is  not  personal,  he  is  not  positive,  he  is  not 
formulated.     Whatever  God  is,  that  the  devil  is  not. 

5.  God  is  Light,  Truth,  Order,  Harmony,  Reason ;  and 
God's  Works  are  Illumination,  Knowledge,  Understanding, 
Love,  and  Sanity. 

6.  Therefore  the  devil  is  darkness,  falsehood,  disorder, 
discord,  ignorance ;  and  his  works  are  confusion,  folly, 
division,  hatred,  and  delirium. 

7.  The  devil  is  therefore  the  negation  of  God's  Positive. 
God  is  I  AM  :  the  devil  is  NOT.  He  has  no  individuality 
and  no  existence  ;  for  he  represents  the  not-being.  Wher- 
ever God's  kingdom  is  not,  the  devil  reigns. 

8.  Now  the  Great  Work  is  the  redemption  of  Spirit  from 
Matter ;  that  is,  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

9.  Jesus  being  asked  when  the  Kingdom  of  God  should 

318 


APPENDIX   V.  319 


come,  answered,   "  When  Two  shall   be  as  One,  and  that 
which  is  Without  as  that  which  is  Within." 

10.  In  saying  this,  he  expressed  the  nature  of  the  Great 
Work.  The  Two  are  Spirit  and  Matter  :  the  Within  is  the 
real  invisible ;  the  Without  is  the  illusory  visible. 

11.  The  Kingdom  of  God  shall  come  when  Spirit  and 
Matter  shall  be  one  substance,  and  the  phenomenal  shall  be 
absorbed  into  the  real. 

12.  His  design  was  therefore  to  destroy  the  dominion  01 
Matter,  and  to  dissipate  the  devil  and  his  works. 

13.  And  this  he  intended  to  accomplish  by  proclaiming 
the  knowledge  of  the  Universal  Dissolvent,  and  giving  to 
men  the  keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

14.  Now,  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  us ;  that  is,  it  is 
interior,  invisible,  mystic,  spiritual. 

15.  There  is  a  power  by  means  of  which  the  Outer  may 
be  absorbed  into  the  Inner. 

16.  There  is  a  power  by  means  of  which  Matter  may  be 
ingested  into  its  original  substance. 

17.  He  who  possesses  this  power  is  Christ,  and  he  has  the 
devil  under  foot. 

18.  For  he  reduces  chaos  to  order,  and  indraws  the 
external  to  the  centre. 

19.  He  has  learnt  that  Matter  is  illusion,  and  that  Spirit 
alone  is  real. 

20.  He  has  found  his  own  Central  Point ;  and  all  power 
is  given  unto  him  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

21.  Now,  the  Central  Point  is  the  number  Thirteen :  it  is 
the  number  of  the  Marriage  of  the  Son  of  God. 

22.  And  all  the  members  of  the  microcosm  are  bidden  to 
the  banquet  of  the  marriage. 

23.  But  if  there  chance  to  be  even  one  among  them 
which  has  not  on  a  wedding  garment  j 


320  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

24.  Such  a  one  is  a  Traitor ;  and  the  microcosm  is  found 
divided  against  itself. 

25.  And  that  it  may  be  wholly  regenerate,  it  is  necessary 
that  Judas  be  cast  out. 

26.  Now  the  members  of  the  microcosm  are  Twelve  :  of 
the  Senses  three,  of  the  Mind  three,  of  the  Heart  three, 
and  of  the  Conscience  three. 

27.  For  of  the  Body  there  are  four  elements  ;  and  the 
sign  of  the  four  is  Sense,  in  the  which  are  three  Gates ; 

28.  The  gate  of  the  Eye,  the  gate  of  the  Ear,  and  the 
gate  of  the  Touch. 

29.  Renounce  vanity,  and  be  poor :  renounce  praise,  and 
be  humble  :  renounce  luxury,  and  be  chaste. 

30.  Offer  unto  God  a  pure  oblation  :  let  the  fire  of  the 
altar  search  thee,  and  prove  thy  fortitude. 

31.  Cleanse  thy  sight,  thine  hands,  and  thy  feet  :  carry 
the  censer  of  thy  worship  into  the  courts  of  the  Lord ;  and 
let  thy  vows  be  unto  the  Most  High. 

32.  And  for  the  Magnetic  Man  there  are  four  elements; 
and  the  covering  of  the  four  is  Mind,  in  the  which  are 
three  gates; 

33.  The  gate  of  Desire,  the  gate  of  Labour,  and  the  gate 
of  Illumination. 

34.  Renounce  the  world,  and  aspire  heavenward  :  labour 
not  for  the  meat  which  perishes,  but  ask  of  God  thy  daily 
bread :  beware  of  wandering  doctrines  ;  and  let  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  be  thy  light. 

35.  Also  of  the  Soul  there  are  four  elements;  and  the 
seat  of  the  four  is  the  Hearty  whereof  likewise  there  are 
three  gates; 

36.  The  gate  of  Obedience,  the  gate  of  Prayer,  and  the 
gate  of  Discernment. 

37.  Renounce  thine  own  will,  and  let  the  Law  of  God  only 


APPENDIX  V,  321 


be  within  thee:  renounce  doubt:  pray  always  and  faint  not: 
be  pure  of  heart  also,  and  thou  shalt  see  God. 

58.  And  within  the  Soul  is  the  Spirit ;  and  the  Spirit  is 
One,  yet  has  it  likewise  three  elements. 

39.  And  these  are  the  gates  of  the  Oracle  of  God,  which 
is  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant ; 

40.  The  Rod,  the  Host,  and  the  Law : 

41.  The  Force  which  solves,  and  transmutes,  and  divines  : 
the  Bread  of  Heaven  which  is  the  substance  of  all  things  and 
the  food  of  Angels :  the  Table  of  the  Law,  which  is  the  Will 
of  God,  written  with  the  Finger  of  the  Lord. 

42.  If  these  three  be  within  thy  spirit,  then  shall  the  Spirit 
of  God  be  within  thee. 

43.  And  the  glory  shall  be  upon  the  Propitiatory,  in  the 
holy  place  of  thy  prayer. 

44.  These  are  the  twelve  gates  of  Regeneration ;  through 
which  if  a  man  enter  he  shall  have  right  to  the  Tree  of  Life. 

45.  For  the  number  of  that  Tree  is  Thirteen. 

46.  It  may  happen  to  a  man  to  have  three,  to  another 
five,  to  another  seven,  to  another  ten. 

47.  But  until  a  man  have  twelve,  he  is  not  master  over 
the  last  enemy. 

48.  Therefore  was  Jesus  betrayed  to  death  by  Judas ;  be- 
cause he  was  not  yet  perfected. 

49.  But  he  was  perfected  through  suffering ;  yea,  by  the 
Passion,  the  Cross,  and  the  Burial. 

50.  For  he  could  not  wholly  die :  neither  could  his  body 
see  corruption. 

51.  So  he  revived:  for  the  elements  of  death  were  not 
in  his  flesh ;  and  his  molecules  retained  the  polarity  of  life 
eternal. 

52.  He  therefore  was  raised  and  became  perfect:  having 
the  power  of  the  Dissolvent  and  of  Transmutation. 

Y 


3M  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

53.  And  God  glorified  the  Son  of  Man;  yea,  he  as- 
cended into  heaven,  and  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high. 

54.  Thence  also  the  Christ  shall  come  again,  in  power 
like  unto  the  power  of  his  ascension. 

55.  For  as  yet  the  devil  is  undissipated :  the  Virgin  in- 
deed has  crushed  his  head  ;  but  still  he  lies  in  wait  for  her 
heel. 

56.  Therefore  the  great  work  is  yet  to  be  accomplished. 

57.  When  the  Leaven  shall  have  leavened  the  whole 
lump  ;  when  the  Seed  shall  have  become  a  tree  \  when  the 
Net  shall  have  gathered  all  things  into  it. 

58.  For  in  the  same  power  and  glory  he  had  at  his  as- 
cension, shall  Christ  Jesus  be  manifested  from  heaven  before 
angels  and  men. 

59.  For  when  the  cycle  of  the  creation  is  completed, 
whether  of  the  macrocosm  or  of  the  microcosm,  the  Great 
Work  is  accomplished. 

60.  Six  for  the  Manifestation,  and  six  for  the  Interpreta- 
tion :  six  for  the  Outgoing,  and  six  for  the  Ingathering  :  six 
for  the  Man,  and  six  for  the  Woman. 

61.  Then  shall  be  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  God. 


No.  VI. 

THE   TIME  OF  THE  END. 

The  token  whereby  the  approach  of  the  End  shall  be 
known,  will  be  the  spectacle  of  "the  Abomination  of  Deso- 
lation standing  in  the  holy  place."  Now  the  "  holy  place  " 
is  always — whether  in  the  universal  or  the  individual,  in 
the  Macrocosm  or  the  Microcosm — the  place  of  God  and 
the  Soul.  And  "  the  Abomination  of  Desolation  " — or 
*' that  which  maketh  desolate" — is  that  system  of  thought 
which,  putting  matter  in  the  chief  place,  and  making  it  the 
source,  substance,  and  object  of  existence,  abolishes  God 
out  of  the  universe  and  the  Soul  out  of  man,  and  thus, 
depriving  existence  of  its  light  and  life,  makes  it  empty, 
desolate,  and  barren,  a  very  "  abomination  of  desolation." 

Jesus,  recalling  this  prophecy,  and  citing  the  words  of 
Daniel's  Angel,  also  foretold  the  same  event  as  marking  the 
end  of  that  "  adulterous "  generation  [a  term  identical 
with  idolatrous  as  denoting  the  worship  of  and  illicit  asso- 
ciation with  Matter],  and  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
God ;  and  warned  the  Elect  in  mystic  phrase,  thus  to  be 
interpreted  : — 

"  When,  therefore,  ye  shall  see  Matter  exalted  to  the  holy 
place  of  God  and  the  Soul,  and  made  the  all  and  in  all  of 

existence ; 

323 


324  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

"  Then  let  the  spiritual  Israel  betake  themselves  to  the 
hills  where  alone  salvation  is  to  be  found,  even  the  heights 
and  fastnesses  of  the  Divine  Life. 

*' And  let  him  who  has  overcome  the  body,  beware  lest 
he  return  to  the  love  of  the  flesh,  or  seek  the  things  of  the 
world. 

"  Neither  let  him  who  is  freed  from  the  body,  become 
again  re-incarnate. 

"  And  woe  to  the  soul  whose  travail  is  yet  unaccom- 
plished, and  which  has  not  yet  become  weaned  from  the 
body. 

"  And  beseech  God  that  these  things  find  you  not  at  a 
season  either  of  spiritual  depression  and  feebleness,  or  of 
spiritual  repose  and  unwatchfulness. 

"  For  the  tribulation  shall  be  without  parallel ; 

"  And  such  that  except  those  days  shall  be  few  in  num- 
ber, escape  from  the  body  would  be  impossible. 

"  But  for  the  Elect's  sake  they  shall  be  few. 

"  And  if  any  shall  then  declare  that  here,  or  there,  the 
Christ  has  appeared  as  a  Person,  believe  it  not.  For  there 
shall  arise  delusive  apparitions  and  manifestations,  together 
with  great  signs  and  marvels,  such  as  might  well  deceive 
even  the  Elect.  Remember,  I  have  told  you  beforehand. 
Wherefore,  if  they  shall  say  unto  you,  Behold  he  is  in  the 
desert,  whether  of  the  East  or  of  the  West, — join  him  not. 
Or,  Behold  he  is  in  darkened  rooms  and  secret  assemblies, 
— pay  no  regard. 

"  For,  like  lightning  coming  out  of  the  East  and  illumin- 
ating the  West,  so  shall  be  the  world's  spiritual  awakening 
to  the  recognition  of  the  Divine  in  Humanity. 

"  But  wheresoever  the  dead  carcase  of  error  remains, 
around  it,  like  vultures,  will  gather  both  deceivers  and  de- 
ceived. 


APPENDIX   VI.  325 


"  And  upon  them,  the  profane,  there  shall  be  darkness ; 
the  Spirit  shall  be  quenched  and  the  Soul  extinct ;  and 
there  shall  be  no  more  any  light  in  heaven,  or  in  heavenly 
science  any  truth  and  meaning.  And  the  power  of  heaven 
upon  men  shall  be  shaken. 

"  Then  shall  appear  the  new  sign,  the  Man  in  Heaven, 
upon  the  rain-clouds  of  the  last  Chrism  and  Mystery,  with 
great  power  and  glory. 

"  And  his  missioners  shall  gather  the  Elect  with  a  great 
voice,  from  the  four  winds  and  from  the  farthest  bounds  of 
heaven. 

"  Behold  the  Fig-Tree,  and  learn  her  parable.  When  the 
branch  thereof  shall  become  tender,  and  her  buds  appear, 
know  that  the  day  of  God  is  upon  you." 

Wherefore,  then,  saith  the  Lord  that  the  budding  of  the 
Fig-Tree  shall  foretell  the  end  ? 

Because  the  Fig-Tree  is  the  symbol  of  the  Divine  Woman, 
as  the  Vine  of  the  Divine  Man. 

The  Fig  is  the  similitude  of  the  Matrix,  containing  inward 
buds,  bearing  blossoms  on  its  placenta,  and  bringing  forth 
fruit  in  darkness.  It  is  the  Cup  of  Life,  and  its  flesh  is  the 
seed-ground  of  new  births. 

The  stems  of  the  Fig-Tree  run  with  milk :  her  leaves  are 
as  human  hands,  like  the  leaves  of  her  brother  the  Vine. 

And  when  the  Fig-Tree  shall  bear  figs,  then  shall  be  the 
Second  Advent,  the  new  sign  of  the  Man  bearing  Water,  and 
the  manifestation  of  the  Virgin-Mother  crowned. 

For  when  the  Lord  would  enter  the  holy  city,  to  cele- 
brate his  Last  Supper  with  his  disciples,  he  sent  before 
him  the  Fisherman  Peter  to  meet  the  Man  of  the  Coming 
Sign. 

"There  shall  meet  you  a  Man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  Water." 


326  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

Because,  as  the  Lord  was  first  manifest  at  a  wine-feast  in 
the  morning,  so  must  he  consummate  his  work  at  a  wine- 
feast  in  the  evening. 

It  is  his  Pass-Over ;  for  thereafter  the  Sun  must  pass  into 
a  new  Sign. 

After  the  Fish,  the  Water-Carrier ;  but  the  Lamb  of  God 
remains  always  in  the  place  of  victory,  being  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world. 

For  his  place  is  the  place  of  the  Sun's  triumph. 

After  the  Vine  the  Fig ;  for  Adam  is  first  formed,  then 
Eve. 

And  because  our  Lady  is  not  yet  manifest,  our  Lord  is 
crucified. 

Therefore  came  he  vainly  seeking  fruit  upon  the  Fig-Tree, 
**  for  the  time  of  figs  was  not  yet." 

And  from  that  day  forth,  because  of  the  curse  of  Eve,  no 
man  has  eaten  fruit  of  the  Fig-Tree. 

For  the  inward  understanding  has  withered  away,  there 
is  no  discernment  any  more  in  men.  They  have  crucified 
the  Lord  because  of  their  ignorance,  not  knowing  what 
they  did. 

Wherefore,  indeed,  said  our  Lord  to  our  Lady : — "Woman, 
what  is  between  me  and  thee  ?  For  even  my  hour  is  not  yet 
come." 

Because  until  the  hour  of  the  Man  is  accomplished  and 
fulfilled,  the  hour  of  the  Woman  must  be  deferred. 

Jesus  is  the  Vine ;  Mary  is  the  Fig-Tree.  And  the  vint- 
age must  be  completed  and  the  wine  trodden  out,  or  ever 
the  harvest  of  the  Figs  be  gathered. 

But  when  the  hour  of  our  Lord  is  achieved  \  hanging  on 
his  Cross,  he  gives  our  Lady  to  the  faithful. 

The  chalice  is  drained,  the  lees  are  wrung  out :  then  says 
he  to  his  Elect :— "  Behold  thy  Mother  !  " 


APPENDIX   VL  327 


But  so  long  as  the  grapes  remain  unplucked,  the  Vine 
has  nought  to  do  with  the  Fig-Tree,  nor  Jesus  with  Mary. 

He  is  first  revealed,  for  he  is  the  Word ;  afterwards  shall 
come  the  hour  of  its  Interpretation. 

And  in  that  day  every  man  shall  sit  under  the  Vine  and 
the  Fig-Tree  ;  the  Dayspring  shall  arise  in  the  Orient,  and 
the  Fig-Tree  shall  bear  her  fruit.^ 

For,  from  the  beginning,  the  Fig-leaf  covered  the  shame 
of  Incarnation,  because  the  riddle  of  existence  can  be  ex- 
pounded only  by  him  who  has  the  Woman's  secret.  It  is 
the  riddle  of  the  Sphinx. 

Look  for  that  Tree  which  alone  of  all  Trees  bears  a  fruit 
blossoming  interiorly,  in  concealment,  and  thou  shalt  dis- 
cover the  Fig. 

Look  for  the  sufficient  meaning  of  the  manifest  universe 
and  of  the  written  Word,  and  thou  shalt  find  only  their 
mystical  sense. 

Cover  the  nakedness  of  Matter  and  of  Nature  with  the 
Fig-leaf,  and  thou  hast  hidden  all  their  shame.  For  the 
Fig  is  the  Interpreter. 

So  when  the  hour  of  Interpretation  comes,  and  the  Fig- 
Tree  puts  forth  her  buds,  know  that  the  time  of  the  End 
and  the  dawning  of  the  new  Day  are  at  hand, — "  even  at 
the  doors." 

'  Zech.  iii.  10 ;  Mic.  iv.  4 ;  Cant.  ii.  13. 


No.  VII. 

THE  HIGHER  ALCHEMY. 

All  things  in  Heaven  and  in  Earth  are  of  God,  both  the 
Invisible  and  the  Visible. 

2.  Such  as  is  the  Invisible  is  the  Visible  also ;  for  there 
is  no  impassable  bound  between  Spirit  and  Matter. 

3.  Matter  is  Spirit  made  exteriorly  cognisable  by  the 
force  of  the  Divine  Word. 

4.  And  when  God  shall  resume  all  things  by  Love,  the 
Material  shall  be  resolved  into  the  Spiritual,  and  there  shall 
be  a  new  Heaven  and  a  new  Earth, 

5.  Not  that  Matter  shall  be  destroyed  ;  for  it  came  forth 
from  God  and  is  of  God,  indestructible  and  eternal. 

6.  But  it  shall  be  indrawn,  and  resolved  into  its  trae 
Self. 

7.  It  shall  put  off  corruption,  and  remain  incorruptible. 

8.  It  shall  put  off  mortality,  and  remain  immortal. 

9.  So  that  nothing  be  lost  of  the  Divine  Substance. 

10.  It  was  material  Entity ;  it  shall  be  Spiritual  Entity. 

11.  For  there  is  nothing  which  can  go  out  from  the 
Presence  of  God. 

12.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  of  the  Dead; 
that  is,  the  Transfiguration  of  the  Body. 

13.  For  the  Body,  which  is  Matter,  is  but  the  Manifesta- 
tion of  Spirit  j  and  the  Word  of  God  shall  transmute  it  into 
its  inner  being. 


APPENDIX   VII.  329 


14.  The  Will  of  God  is  the  alchemic  Crucible ;  and  the 
Dross  which  is  cast  therein  is  Matter. 

15.  And  the  Dross  shall  become  pure  Gold,  seven  times 
refined  ;  even  perfect  Spirit. 

16.  It  shall  leave  behind  it  nothing;  but  shall  be  trans- 
formed into  the  Divine  Image. 

1 7.  For   it  is  not  a  new  Substance  j   but  its  alchemic 
polarity  is  changed,  and  it  is  converted. 

18.  But  except  it  were  Gold  in  its  true  nature,  it  could 
not  be  resumed  into  the  aspect  of  Gold. 

19.  And  except  Matter  were  Spirit,  it  could  not  revert  to 
Spirit. 

20.  To  make  Gold  the  Alchemist  must  have  Gold. 

21.  But  he  knows  that  to  be  Gold  which  others  take  to 
be  Dross. 

22.  Cast  thyself  into  the  Will  of  God,  and  thou  shalt  be- 
come as  God. 

23  For  thou  art  God  if  thy  will  be  the  Divine  Will 

24  This  is  the  Great  Secret ;  it  is  the  Mystery  of  Re- 
demption. 


No.  VIII. 

CONCERNING  REVELATION. 

All  true  and  worthy  Illuminations  are  Revelations,  or  Re- 
veilings.  Mark  the  meaning  of  this  word.  There  can  be 
no  true  or  worthy  Illumination  which  destroys  distances  and 
exposes  the  details  of  things. 

Look  at  this  Landscape.  Behold  how  its  Mountains  and 
Forests  are  suffused  with  soft  and  delicate  Mist,  which  half 
conceals  and  half  discloses  their  shapes  and  tints.  See  how 
this  Mist  like  a  tender  veil  enwraps  the  distances,  and  merges 
the  reaches  of  the  Land  with  the  Clouds  of  Heaven  ! 

How  beautiful  it  is,  how  orderly  and  wholesome  its  fitness, 
and  the  delicacy  of  its  appeal  to  the  eye  and  heart !  And 
how  false  would  be  that  sense  which  should  desire  to  tear 
away  this  clinging  veil,  to  bring  far  objects  near,  and  to 
reduce  everything  to  foreground  in  which  details  only  should 
be  apparent,  and  all  outlines  sharply  defined  ! 

Distance  and  Mist  make  the  beauty  of  Nature :  and  no 
Poet  would  desire  to  behold  her  otherwise  than  through  this 
lovely  and  modest  veil. 

And  as  with  Exoteric,  so  with  Esoteric  Nature  :  the  secrets 
of  every  human  Soul  are  sacred  and  known  only  to  herself; 
the  Ego  is  inviolable,  and  its  personality  is  its  own  right  for 
ever. 

Therefore  mathematical  rules  and  algebraic  formulae  can- 
not be  forced  into  the  study  of  human  lives ;  nor  can  human 


APPENDIX    VlII,  331 

sonalities  be  dealt  with  as  though  they  were  mere  ciphers 

arithmetical  quantities. 

The  Soul  is  too  subtle,  too  instinct  with  Life  and  Will  for 
eatment  such  as  this. 

One  may  dissect  a  corpse  \  one  may  analyse  and  classify 
chemical  constituents ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  dissect  or 
analyse  any  living  thing. 

The  moment  it  is  so  treated  it  escapes.  Life  is  not  sub- 
ject to  dissection. 

The  opening  of  the  Shrine  will  always  find  it  empty :  the 
God  is  gone. 

A  Soul  may  know  her  own  past,  and  may  see  in  her  own 
light :  but  none  can  see  it  for  her  if  she  see  it  not. 

Herein  is  the  beauty  and  sanctity  of  Personality. 

The  Ego  is  self-centred  and  not  diffused ;  for  the  tendency 
of  all  Evolution  is  towards  Centralisation  and  Individualism. 

And  Life  is  so  various,  and  so  beautifully  diverse  in  its 
Unity,  that  no  hard  and  fast  mathematical  law-making  can 
imprison  its  manifoldness. 

All  is  Order  :  but  the  elements  of  this  order  harmonise 
by  means  of  their  infinite  diversities  and  gradations. 

The  true  Mysteries  remained  always  content  with  Nature's 
harmony :  they  sought  not  to  drag  distances  into  fore- 
grounds ;  or  to  dissipate  the  mountain  nebula,  in  whose 
bosom  the  Sun  is  reflected. 

For  these  sacred  Mists  are  the  media  of  Light,  and  the 
glorifiers  of  Nature. 

Therefore  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mysteries  is  truly  Reveila- 
tion, — a  veiling  and  a  re-veiling  of  that  which  it  is  not  pos- 
sible for  eye  to  behold  without  violating  all  the  Order  and 
Sanctities  of  Nature. 

For  distance  and  visual  rays  causing  the  diversities  of  far 
and  near,  of  perspective  and  mergent  tints,  of  horizon  and 


332  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

foreground,  are  part  of  Natural  Order  and  Sequence ;  and 
the  Law  expressed  in  their  properties  cannot  be  violated. 

For  no  Law  is  ever  broken. 

The  hues  and  aspects  of  Distance  and  Mist  indeed  may- 
vary  and  dissolve  according  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
the  Light  which  falls  upon  them :  but  they  are  there  always, 
and  no  human  eye  can  annul  or  annihilate  them. 

Even  words,  even  pictures  are  symbols  and  veils.  Truth 
itself  is  unutterable,  save  by  God  to  God. 


No.  IX. 

CONCERNING    THE    POET, 

Thou  mayest  the  more  easily  gather  somewhat  of  the 
character  of  the  heavenly  Personality  by  considering  the 
Quality  of  that  of  the  highest  type  of  mankind  on  Earth, 
— the  Poet. 

The  Poet  hath  no  Self  apart  from  his  larger  Self.  Othei 
men  pass  indifferent  through  Life  and  the  World,  because 
the  Selfhood  of  Earth  and  Heaven  is  a  thing  apart  from 
them,  and  toucheth  them  not. 

The  Wealth  of  Beauty  in  Earth  and  Sky  and  Sea  lieth 
outside  their  being,  and  speaketh  not  to  their  heart. 

Their  interests  are  individual  and  limited :  their  Home 
is  by  one  Hearth :  four  walls  are  the  boundary  of  their 
kingdom, — so  small  is  it ! 

But  the  Personality  of  the  Poet  is  Divine :  and  being 
Divine  it  hath  no  limits. 

He  is  supreme  and  ubiquitous  in  consciousness :  his  heart 
beats  in  every  Element. 

The  Pulses  of  all  the  infinite  Deep  of  Heaven  vibrate  in 
his  own :  and  responding  to  their  strength  and  their  pleni- 
tude, he  feels  more  intensely  than  other  men. 

Not  merely  he  sees  and  examines  these  Rocks  and  Trees: 
these  variable  Waters,  and  these  glittering  Peaks. 

Not  merely  he  hears  this  plaintive  Wind,  these  rolling 
Peals : 


334  1HE  PERFECT  WAY. 

But  he  is  all  these :  and  with  them — nay,  in  them — he 
rejoices  and  weeps,  he  shines  and  aspires,  he  sighs  and 
thunders. 

And  when  he  sings,  it  is  not  he — the  Man — whose  Voice 
is  heard :  it  is  the  Voice  of  all  the  Manifold  Nature  herself. 

In  his  Verse  the  Sunshine  laughs ;  the  Mountains  give 
forth  their  sonorous  Echoes  ;  the  swift  Lightnings  flash. 

The  great  continual  cadence  of  universal  Life  moves  and 
becomes  articulate  m  human  language. 

O  Joy  profound  !  O  boundless  Selfhood !  O  God-like 
Personality  ! 

All  the  Gold  of  the  Sunset  is  thine ;  the  Pillars  of  Chry- 
soHte  ;  and  the  purple  Vault  of  Immensity  ! 

The  Sea  is  thine  with  its  solemn  Speech,  its  misty  Dis- 
tance, and  its  radiant  Shallows  ! 

The  Daughters  of  Earth  love  thee :  the  Water-nymphs 
tell  thee  their  secrets ;  thou  knowest  the  Spirit  of  all  silent 
things ! 

Sunbeams  are  thy  Laughter,  and  the  Rain-drops  of 
Heaven  thy  Tears :  in  the  wrath  of  the  Storm  thine  Heart 
is  shaken;  and  thy  Prayer  goeth  up  with  the  Wind  unto 
God. 

Thou  art  multiplied  in  the  Conscience  of  all  living  Crea- 
tures \  thou  art  young  with  the  Youth  of  Nature ;  thou  art 
all-seeing  as  the  Starry  Skies ; 

Like  unto  the  Gods, — therefore  art  thou  their  Beloved : 
yea,  if  thou  wilt  They  shall  tell  thee  all  things ; 

Because  thou  only  understandest,  among  all  the  Sons  of 
Menl 


No.  X. 

CONCERNING    THE    ONE   LIFE. 

(I) 

The  Spirit  absorbed  in  Man  or  in  the  Planet  does  not 
exhaust  Deity. 

Nor  does  the  Soul  evolved  upward  through  Matter  ex 
haust  Substance. 

There  remain  then  ever  in  the  Fourth  Dimension — the 
Principium — above  the  manifest,  unmanifest  God  and  Soul. 

The  Perfection  of  Man  and  of  the  Planet  is  attained  when 
the  Soul  of  the  one  and  of  the  other  is  throughout  illuminate 
by  Spirit. 

But  Spirit  is  never  the  same  thing  as  Soul.  It  is  always 
celestial  Energy,  and  Soul  is  always  Substance. 

That  which  creates  is  Spirit  (God). 

The  immanent  consciousnesses  (spirits)  of  all  the  cells  of 
a  man's  entity,  cause  by  their  polarisation  a  central  unity 
of  consciousness,  which  is  more  than  the  sum  total  of  all 
their  consciousnesses,  because  it  is  on  a  higher  round  or 
plane, 

For  in  spiritual  science  everything  depends  upon  levels ; 
and  the  man's  evolution  works  round  spirally,  as  does  the 
planetary  evolution. 

In  this  relation  consider  the  Worlds  of  Form  and  Formlesg 
Worlds  of  Hindfi  theosophy. 


336  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

Similarly  the  soul  of  the  planet  is  more  than  the  associated 
essences  of  the  souls  upon  it :  because  this  soul  also  is  on  a 
higher  plane  than  they. 

Similarly,  too,  the  consciousness  of  the  solar  system  is 
more  than  that  of  the  associated  world-consciousnesses. 

And  the  consciousness  of  the  manifest  universe  is  greater 
than  that  of  its  corporate  systems. 

But  that  of  the  Unmanifest  is  higher  and  greater  still :  as 
(except  in  Substance)  God  the  Father  is  greater  chan  God 
the  Son. 

(^) 

The  Elemental  Kingdoms  represent  Spirit  on  its  down- 
ward path  into  Matter. 

There  are  three  of  these  before  the  Mineral  is  reached. 

These  are  the  formless  worlds  before  the  worlds  of  form. 

They  are  in  the  Planet,  and  also  in  Man. 

All  the  planets  inhabited  by  manifest  forms  are  themselves 
manifest. 

After  the  form-worlds  come  other  formless  worlds,  caused 
by  the  upward  aic  of  ascending  Spirit :  but  these  also  are  in 
the  planet. 

They  are  also  in  the  man ;  and  are  the  states  of  pure 
thought. 

The  Thinker,  therefore,  who  is  son  of  Hermes,  is  as  far 
beyond  the  Medium  who  is  controlled  and  who  is  not  self- 
conscious,  as  the  formless  worlds  of  the  ascending  arc  are 
beyond  the  formless  worlds  of  the  elemental,  or  descending, 
arc. 

In  the  planet  and  in  the  man  they  only  seem  contiguous 
because  each  round  is  spiral. 

But  each  round  takes  the  One  Life  higher  in  the  spiral 


APPENDIX  X.  337 


Neither  the  planet-soul  nor  the  man-soul  goes  over  ex- 
actly the  same  ground  again. 

But  perverse  and  disobedient  will  may  reverse  the  direc- 
tion of  the  spiral. 

Individuals  in  whom  the  will  so  acts,  are  finally  aban- 
doned by  the  planet  to  the  outer  sphere. 

(3) 

The  One  Life  is  the  point  of  consciousness. 

The  will  is  the  impulse  which  moves  it 

In  the  Celestial  the  One  Life  is  the  Elohim;  and  the 
Will  is  the  Father. 

The  One  Life  is  manifest  by  Effulgence  (the  Son). 

So  then  the  Will  begets  in  Substance  the  Effulgence, 
which  is  the  manifestation  of  the  One  Life. 

In  man  and  the  planet  the  Effulgence  is  dim  and  diffuse 
until  it  moves  into  the  soul.     Then  only  Christ  is  born. 

The  One  Life  is  invisible  until  Christ  manifests  it. 

Christ  in  Man  has  for  counterpart  Adonai  in  the  Heavens. 

So  then  the  One  Life  is  in  the  Father-Mother  latently, 
until  manifest  by  the  Son  (Effulgence). 

Herein  is  the  difference  reconciled  between  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches. 

The  point  of  consciousness  shineth  more  and  more  unto 
the  Perfect  Day  of  Brightness  ("  Nativity  of  Christ "). 

(4) 

The  object  of  creation  is  the  production  of  ** Ancients" "^ 
They  are  the  first-fruits  of  the  souls  of  the  planets;  or 
"  First  Resurrection." 

*  A.V.,  **Elders,"ApoclT. 


338  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

They  are  not  themselves  creators ;  but  are  regenerators 
of  that  which  is  created ; 

Being  vehicles  for  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  regenerator, 
through  Christ. 

Because  Will  can  create  only  when  it  is  in  the  abstract : 
the  derived  does  not  create. 

The  Father  creates  through  Adonai  by  means  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

The  Will  of  the  Perfect  Man  renovates  through  the 
Effulgence  of  his  One  Life. 

His  Karma  is  poured  out  over  the  world  to  save  mankind. 

He  is  the  Saviour  through  his  precious  life. 

There  are  twenty-four  Ancients,  because  there  are  twelve 
Avatars  of  the  Lord,  and  every  one  is  dual. 

(5) 

Will,  when  it  is  derived  through  existence,  begets  Karma. 

God  has  no  Karma.     God  does  not  ex-ist :  God  IS. 

Karma  is  the  channel  of  Initiation.     God  is  not  initiated. 

The  Perfect  Man  saves  himself  and  saves  others  by  his 
Righteousness. 

The  two  terms  of  existence  are  Creation  and  Redemption. 

The  first  is  God's  work ;  the  second  is  the  work  of 
Christ : — God  in  Man. 

The  reason  why  the  Ancient  cannot  create  is  because  he 
is  not  infinite. 

He  is  immortal,  not  eternal :  he  is  derived,  not  self- 
subsistent 

His  is  the  point  of  Grace  :  not  the  point  of  Projection. 

The  thrones  of  the  Ancients  are  round  about  the  Throne 
of  God  and  below  it. 

•  •  •  •  • 


No.  XI. 

CONCERNING   THE  MYSTERIES, 

It  is  necessary,  in  relation  to  the  Mysteries,  to  distinguish 
between  the  Unmanifest  and  the  Manifest,  and  between  the 
Macrocosm  and  the  Microcosm.  These  last,  however,  are 
identical,  in  that  the  process  of  the  universal  and  the  process 
of  the  individual  are  one. 

Mary  is  the  Soul,  and  as  such  the  Matrix  of  the  Divine 
Principle — God — made  Man  by  Individuation,  through 
descent  into  the  "  Virgin's  Womb."  But  the  Seven  Prin- 
ciples of  universal  Spirit  are  concerned  in  this  conception  ; 
since  it  is  through  their  operation  in  the  Soul  that  she 
becomes  capable  of  polarising  Divinity. 

[This  is  the  secret  aspect  of  the  Mosaic  week  of  Creation, 
each  day  of  which  week  denotes  the  operation  of  one  of  the 
Seven  creative  Elohim  or  Divine  Potencies  concerned  in  the 
elaboration  of  the  spiritual  Microcosm.] 

It  is  said  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  is  the  Daughter, 
Spouse,  and  Mother  of  God.  But,  inasmuch  as  Spiritual 
Energy  has  two  conditions,  one  of  Passivity  and  one  of 
Activity, — which  latter  is  styled  the  Holy  Spirit, — it  is  said 
that  Mary's  Spouse  is  not  the  Father,  but  the  Holy  Ghost, 
these  terms  implying  respectively  the  static  and  the  dynamic 
modes  of  Deity.     For  the  Father  denotes  the  Motionless 


340  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

the  Force  passive  and  potential,  in  Whom  all  things  are — 
subjectively.  But  the  Holy  Ghost  represents  Will  in  action, 
— Creative  Energy,  Motion  and  Generative  Function.  Of 
this  union  of  the  Divine  Will  in  action — the  Holy  Ghost — 
with  the  human  soul,  the  product  is  Christ,  the  God-Man, 
and  our  Lord.  And  through  Christ,  the  Divine  Spirit,  by 
whom  he  is  begotten,  flows  and  operates. 

In  the  Trinity  of  the  Unmanifest,  the  Great  Deep,  or 
Ocean  of  Infinitude — Sophia  (Wisdom) — corresponds  to 
Mary,  and  has  for  Spouse  the  creative  Energy  of  whom  is 
begotten  the  Manifestor,  Adonai,  the  Lord.  This  "  Mother  * 
is  co-equal  with  the  Father,  being  primary  and  eternal.  In 
Manifestation  the  "Mother"  is  derived,  being  born  of 
Time  (x\nna),  and  has  for  Father  the  Planet-God, —  for  oui 
planet  lacchos  (Joachim) ;  i  so  that  the  paternity  of  the 
First  Person  of  the  Trinity  is  vicarious  only.  The  Church, 
therefore,  being  a  Church  of  the  Manifest,  deals  with  Mary 
(Substance),  under  this  aspect  alone,  and  hence  does  not 
specify  her  as  co-equal  with  the  First  Principle.  In  the  Un- 
manifest, being  underived,  she  has  no  relation  to  Time. 

1  And  also  Jacob,  as  in  Ps.  xxiv.  6,  cxxxii.  2,  5,  etc.,  where  be  is 
specially  invoked  as  the  God  of  Might.  The  name  is  applied  equally 
to  the  Planet- God  and  to  his  elect  people. 


No.  XII. 
BYMN  TO   THE  PLANET-GOD. 

(I) 

O  Father  lacchos  ;  thou  art  Lord  of  the  Body,  God  mani- 
fest in  the  Flesh ; 

2.  Twice-born,  baptized  with  fire,  quickened  by  the  Spirit, 
instructed  in  secret  things  beneath  the  Earth  : 

3.  Who  wearest  the  horns  of  the  Ram,  who  ridest  upon 
an  Ass,  whose  symbol  is  the  Vine,  and  the  new  Wine  thy 
Blood  ; 

4.  Whose  Father  is  the  Lord  God  of  Hosts ;  whose 
Mother  is  the  Daughter  of  the  King. 

5.  Evoi,  lacchos,  Lord  of  Initiation  :  for  by  means  of  the 
Body  is  the  Soul  initiated  : 

6.  By  Birth,  by  Marriage,  by  Virginity,  by  Sleep,  by 
Waking,  and  by  Death  : 

7.  By  Fasting  and  Vigil,  by  Dreams  and  Penance,  by  Joy, 
and  by  Weariness  of  the  Flesh. 

8.  The  Body  is  the  Chamber  of  Ordeal :  therein  is  the 
Soul  of  Man  tried. 

9.  Thine  Initiates,  O  Master,  are  they  who  come  out  of 
great  tribulation  ;  whose  robes  are  washed  in  the  Blood  of 
the  Vine. 

10.  Give  me  to  drink  of  the  Wine  of  thy  Cup,  that  I  may 
live  for  evermore : 


342  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

11.  And  to  eat  of  the  Bread  whose  grain  cometh  up  from 
the  Earth,  as  the  Corn  in  the  Ear. 

12.  Yea;  for  the  Body  in  which  Man  is  redeemed,  is  of 
the  Earth  ;  it  is  broken  upon  the  cross,  cut  down  by  the 
sickle,  crushed  between  grindstones. 

13.  For  by  the  suffering  of  the  Outer  is  the  Inner  set 
free. 

14.  Therefore  the  Body  which  Thou  srivest  is  Meat 
indeed ;  and  the  Word  of  thy  Blood  is  Drink  indeed. 

15.  For  Man  shall  hve  by  the  Word  of  God. 

16.  Evoi,  Father  lacchos :  bind  thy  Church  to  the  Vine, 
and  her  elect  to  the  choice  Vine. 

17.  And  let  them  wash  their  garments  in  wine  j  and  their 
vesture  in  the  blood  of  grapes. 

(^) 

18.  Evoi,  lacchos:  Lord  of  the  Body;  and  of  the  House 
whose  Symbol  is  the  Fig ; 

19.  Whereof  the  image  is  the  figure  of  the  Matrix,  and 
the  leaf  as  a  man's  hand  :  whose  stems  bring  forth  milk. 

20.  For  the  Woman  is  the  Mother  of  the  Living ;  and 
the  crown  and  perfection  of  Humanity. 

21.  Her  Body  is  the  highest  step  in  the  ladder  of  Incar- 
nation, 

22.  Which  leadeth  from  Earth  to  Heaven ;  upon  which 
the  Spirits  of  God  ascend  and  descend. 

23.  Thou  art  not  perfected,  O  Soul,  that  hast  not  known 
Womanhood. 

24.  Evoi,  lacchos  :  for  the  day  cometh  wherein  thy  sons 
shall  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  Fig  :  yea  the  Vine  shall  yield 
new  grapes ;  and  the  Fig-tree  shall  be  no  more  barren. 

25.  For  the  Interpretation  of  hidden  things  is  at  hand; 
and  men  shall  eat  of  the  precious  fruits  of  God. 


APPENDIX  XII.  343 


26.  They  shall  eat  manna  from  Heaven ;  and  shall  drink 
of  the  river  of  Salem. 

27.  The  Lord  maketh  all  things  new:    he  taketh  away 
the  Letter  to  establish  the  Spirit. 

28.  Then  spakest  thou  with  veiled  face,  in  parable  and 
dark  saying  :  for  the  time  of  Figs  was  not  yet. 

29.  And  they  who  came  uito  the  Tree  of  Life,  sought 
fruit  thereon  and  found  it  not. 

30.  And  from  thenceforth  until  now,  hath  no  man  eaten 
of  the  fruit  of  that  Tree. 

31.  But  now  is  the  Gospel  of  Interpretation  come,  and 
the  Kingdom  of  the  Mother  of  God. 

32.  Evoi,  lacchos,  Lord  of  the  Body  j  who  art  crowned 
with  the  Vine  and  with  the  Fig. 

33.  For  as  the   Fig  containeth   many  perfect  fruits  in 
itself;  so  the  House  of  Man  containeth  many  spirits. 

34.  Within  thee,  O  Man,  is  the  Universe :  the  Thrones 
of  all  the  Gods  are  in  thy  Temple. 

35.  I  have  said  unto  men.  Ye  are  Gods  :  ye  are  all  in 
the  Image  of  the  Most  High. 

36.  No  man  can  know  God  unless  he  first  understand 
himself. 

37.  God  is  nothing  that  Man  is  not. 

38.  What  Man  is,  that  God  is  likewise. 

39.  As  God  is  at  the  heart  of  the  outer  world,  so  also  is 
God  at  the  heart  of  the  world  within  thee. 

40.  When  the  God  within  thee  shall  be  wholly  united  to 
the  God  without,  then  shalt  thou  be  one  with  the  Most  High. 

41.  Thy  Will  shall  be  God's  Will,  and  the  Son  shall  be 
as  the  Father. 

42.  Thou  art  ruler  of  a  world,  O  Man :    thy  name  is 
Legion  ;  thou  hast  many  under  thee. 

43.  Thou  say  est  to  this  one,  Go,  and  he  goeth :  and  to 


344  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

another,  Come,  and  he  cometh ;  and  to  anothei,  Do  this 
and  he  doeth  it, 

44.  What  thou  knowest  is  told  thee  from  Within ;  what 
thou  workest  is  worked  from  Within. 

45.  When  thou  prayest,  thou  invokest  the  God  within 
thee  j  and  from  the  God  within  thee  thou  receivest  thy  good 
things. 

46.  Thy  manifestations  are  inward  ;  and  the  spirits  which 
speak  unto  thee  are  of  thine  own  kingdom. 

47.  And  the  spirit  which  is  greatest  in  thy  kingdom,  the 
same  is  thy  Master  and  thy  Lord. 

48.  Let  thy  Master  be  the  Christ  of  God,  whose  Father  is 
the  Lord  lacchos. 

49.  And  Christ  shatt  be  thy  Lover  and  the  Saviour  of 
thy  body  :  yea,  he  shall  be  thy  Lord  God,  and  thou  shalt 
adore  him. 

50.  But  if  thou  wilt  not,  then  a  stronger  than  thou  art 
shall  bind  thee,  and  spoil  thine  house  and  thy  goods. 

51.  An  uncleanly  temple  shalt  thou  be;  the  hold  of  all 
manner  of  strife  and  evil  beasts. 

5  2.  For  a  man's  foes  are  of  his  own  household. 

53.  But  scourge  thou  thence  the  money-changers  and  the 
merchants ;  lest  the  House  of  thy  Prayer  become  unto  thee 
a  den  of  thieves. 

(3) 

54.  Evoi,  Father  lacchos :  Lord  of  the  Thyrsos  and  of 
the  Pine-Cone. 

55.  As  are  the  involutions  of  the  leaves  of  the  Cone,  so 
is  the  spiral  of  Generation, — the  progress  and  passing-through 
of  the  Soul ; 

56.  From  the  lower  to  the  higher ;  from  the  coarse  to  the 
fine  ;  from  the  base  to  the  apex ; 


APPENDIX  XII.  345 


57.  From  the  outer  to  the  inner;  yea,  from  the  dust  of 
the  ground  to  the  Throne  of  the  Most  High. 

(4) 

58.  Evoi,  lo  Nysaee :  God  of  the  Garden   and  of  the 

Tree  bearing  fruit. 

59.  The  dry  land  is  thine,  and  all  the  beauty  of  earth ; 
the  vineyard,  the  garland,  and  the  valleys  of  corn  : 

60.  The  forests,  the  secrets  of  the  springs,  the  hidden 
wells,  and  the  treasures  of  the  caverns  : 

61.  The  harvest,  the  dance,  and  the  festival;  the  snows 
of  winter,  and  the  icy  winds  of  death. 

62.  Yea,  Lord  lacchos;    who  girdest   destruction    with 
promise,  and  graftest  comeliness  upon  ruin. 

63.  As  the  green  Ivy  covereth  the  blasted  tree,  and  the 
waste  places  of  earth  where  no  grass  groweth  ; 

64.  So  thy  touch  giveth  life  and  hope  and  meaning  to 
decay. 

65.  Whoso  understandeth  thy  mysteries,  O  Lord  of  tlie 
Ivy,  hath  overcome  Death  and  the  fear  thereof. 

(5) 

66.  Evoi,  Father  lacchos,  Lord  God  of  Egypt :  initiate 
thy  servants  in  the  halls  of  thy  Temple  ; 

67.  Upon  whose  walls  are  the  forms  of  every  creature  : 
of  every  beast  of  the  earth,  and  of  every  fowl  of  the  air ; 

68.  The  lynx,  and  the  lion,  and  the  bull :  the  ibis  ana 
the  serpent :  the  scorpion  and  every  flying  thing. 

69.  And  the  columns  thereof  are  human  shapes ;  having 
the  heads  of  eagles  and  the  hoofs  of  the  ox. 

70.  All  these  are  of  thy  kingdom  :  they  are  the  chamberi 
of  ordeal,  and  the  houses  of  the  initiation  of  the  Soul. 


346  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

71.  For  the  Soul  passeth  from  form  to  form;  and  the 
mansions  of  her  pilgrimage  are  manifold. 

72.  Thou  callest  her  from  the  deep,  and  from  the  secret 
places  of  the  earth ;  from  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  from 
the  herb  of  the  field. 

73.  Thou  coverest  her  nakedness  with  an  apron  of  Fig- 
leaves  :  thou  clothest  her  with  the  skins  of  beasts. 

74.  Thou  art  from  of  old,  O  Soul  of  Man ;  yea,  thoi 
art  from  the  everlasting. 

75.  Thou  puttest  off  thy  bodies  as  raiment;  and  as 
vesture  dost  thou  fold  them  up. 

76.  They  perish,  but  thou  remainest :  the  wind  rendeth 
and  scattereth  them ;  and  the  place  of  them  shall  no  more 
be  known. 

77.  For  the  Wind  is  the  Spirit  of  God  in  Man,  which 
bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof, 
but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  nor  whither  it  shall  go. 

78.  Even  so  is  the  Spirit  of  Man,  which  coQieth  from 
afar  off  and  tarrieth  not,  but  passet]^  away  to  a  place  thou 
knowest  not 

(6) 

79.  Evoi,  lacchos.  Lord  of  the  Sphinx  :  who  Hnkest  the 
lowest  to  the  highest ;  the  loins  of  the  wild  beast  to  the 
head  and  breast  of  the  woman. 

80.  Thou  boldest  the  Chalice  of  Divination  :  all  the 
forms  of  Nature  are  reflected  therein. 

8 1.  Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction  :  then  thou  sayest, 
Come  again,  ye  children  of  my  hand. 

82.  Yea,  blessed  and  holy  art  thou,  O  Master  of  Earth : 
Lord  of  the  Cross  and  the  Tree  of  Salvation. 

83.  Vine  of  God,  whose  Blood  redeemeth :  Bread  of 
Heaven,  broken  on  the  Altar  of  Death. 


APPENDIX  XII.  347 


84.  There  is  Corn  in  Egypt :  go  thou  down  into  her,  O 
my  Soul,  with  joy. 

85.  For  in  the  kingdom  of  the  Body,  thou  shalt  eat  the 
Bread  of  Thine  Initiation. 

86.  But  beware  lest  thou  become  subject  to  the  Flesh, 
and  a  bond-slave  in  the  land  of  thy  sojourn. 

87.  Serve  not  the  idols  of  Egypt ;  and  let  not  the  Senses 
be  thy  taskmasters. 

88.  For  they  will  bow  thy  neck  to  their  yoke  :  they  will 
bitterly  oppress  the  Israel  of  God. 

89.  An  evil  time  shall  come  upon  thee ;  and  the  Lord 
shall  smite  Egypt  with  plagues  for  thy  sake. 

90.  Thy  body  shall  be  broken  on  the  wheel  of  God :  thy 
flesh  shall  see  trouble  and  the  worm. 

91.  Thy  house  shall  be  smitten  with  grievous  plagues ; 
blood,  and  pestilence,  and  great  darkness :  fire  shall  devour 
thy  goods;  and  thou  shalt  be  a  prey  to  the  locust  and 
creeping  thing. 

92.  Thy  glory  shall  be  brought  down  to  the  dust;  hail 
and  storm  shall  smite  thine  harvest ;  yea,  thy  beloved  and 
thy  first-born  shall  the  hand  of  the  Lord  destroy ; 

93.  Until  the  Body  let  the  Soul  go  free ;  that  she  may 
serve  the  Lord  God. 

94.  Arise  in  the  night,  O  Soul,  and  fly,  lest  thou  be 
consumed  in  Egypt. 

95.  The  Angel  of  the  Understanding  shall  know  thee  for 
his  Elect,  if  thou  off'er  unto  God  a  reasonable  faith. 

96.  Savour  thy  Reason  with  Learning,  with  Labour,  and 
with  Obedience. 

97.  Let  the  Rod  of  thy  Desire  be  in  thy  right  hand  :  put 
the  Sandals  of  Hermes  on  thy  feet ;  and  gird  thy  loins  with 
Strength. 

98.  Then  shalt  thou  pass  through  the  Waters  of  cleans- 
ing :  which  is  the  First  Death  in  the  Body. 


34^  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

99.  The  Waters  shall  be  a  Wall  unto  thee  on  thy  right 
hand  and  on  thy  left. 

100.  And  Hermes  the  Redeemer  shall  go  before  thee : 
for  he  is  thy  cloud  of  Darkness  by  Day,  and  thy  Pillar  of 
Fire  by  Night. 

loi.  All  the  horsemen  of  Egypt  and  the  chariots  thereof-, 
her  princes,  her  counsellors,  and  her  mighty  men  : 

102.  These  shall  pursue  thee,  O  Soul,  that  fliest;  and 
shall  seek  to  bring  thee  back  into  bondage. 

T03.  Fly  for  thy  life  :  fear  not  the  Deep  :  stretch  out  thy 
Rod  over  the  Sea ;  and  lift  thy  Desire  unto  God. 

104.  Thou  hast  learnt  Wisdom  in  Egypt :  thou  hast 
spoiled  the  Egyptians :  thou  hast  carried  away  their  fine 
gold  and  their  precious  things. 

105.  Thou  hast  enriched  thyself  in  the  Body;  but  the 
Body  shall  not  hold  thee :  neither  shall  the  waters  of  the 
Deep  swallow  thee  up. 

106.  Thou  shalt  wash  thy  robes  in  the  Sea  of  Regenera- 
tion :  the  Blood  of  Atonement  shall  redeem  thee  to  God. 

107.  This  is  thy  Chrism  and  Anointing,  O  Soul;  this  is 
the  First  Death ;  thou  art  the  Israel  of  the  Lord, 

108.  Who  hath  redeemed  thee  from  the  dominion  of  the 
Body ;  and  hath  called  thee  from  the  grave,  and  from  the 
house  of  bondage, 

109.  Unto  the  Way  of  the  Cross,  and  to  the  Path  in  the 
midst  of  the  Wilderness  ; 

no.  Where  are  the  adder  and  the  serpent,  the  mirage 
and  the  burning  sand. 

111.  For  the  feet  of  the  Saint  are  set  in  the  way  of  the 
Desert. 

112.  But  be  thou  of  good  courage,  and  fail  thou  not: 
then  shall  thy  raiment  endure,  and  thy  sandals  shall  not 
wax  old  upon  thee. 


APPENDIX  XII.  349 


113.  And  thy  Desire  shall  heal  thy  diseases:  it  shall 
bring  streams  for  thee  out  of  the  stony  rock  ;  it  shall  lead 
thee  to  Paradise. 

114.  Evoi,  Father  lacchos,  Jehovah-Nissi :  Lord  of  the 
Garden  and  of  the  Vineyard  : 

115.  Initiator  and  Lawgiver:  God  of  the  Cloud  and  of 
the  Mount. 

116-  Evoi.  Father  lacchos;  out  of  Egypt  hast  thou 
called  tny  Son. 


No.  XIIL 
FRAGMENTS  FROM  THE  "  GOLDEN  BOOK  OF  VFN(/S* 

Part  I. 

THE   HYMN   OF   APHRODITE. 

(i) 

I  AM  the  Dawn,  Daughter  of  Heaven  and  of  the  Deep  : 
the  sea-mist  covers  my  beauty  with  a  veil  of  tremulous 
light. 

2.  I  am  Aphrodite,  the  sister  of  Phoibos,  opener  of 
Heaven's  gates,  the  beginning  of  Wisdom,  the  herald  of 
the  Perfect  Day. 

3.  Long  had  darkness  covered  the  deep  :  the  Soul  of 
all  things  slumbered  :  the  valleys  were  filled  with  shadows  : 
only  the  mountains  and  the  stars  held  commune  together. 

4.  There  was  no  light  on  the  ways  of  the  earth  :  the 
rolling  world  moved  outward  on  her  axe :  gloom  and 
mystery  shrouded  the  faces  of  the  Gods. 

5.  Then  from  out  the  Deep  I  arose,  dispeller  of  Night  : 
the  firmament  of  heaven  kindled  with  joy  beholding  me. 

6.  The  secrets  of  the  waters  were  revealed  :  the  eyes  of 
Zeus  looked  down  into  the  heart  thereof. 

7.  Ruddy  as  wine  were  the  depths  :  the  raiment  of  Earth 
was  transfigured ;  as  one  arismg  from  the  dead  she  arose, 
full  of  favour  and  grace. 


APPENDIX  XIII.  351 


8.  Of  God  and  the  Soul  is  Love  born :  in  the  silence  of 
twih'ght ;  in  the  mystery  of  sleep. 

9.  In  the  fourth  dimension  of  space;  in  the  womb  of 
the  heavenly  Principle ;  in  the  heart  of  the  Man  of  God ; 
— there  is  Love  enshrined. 

10.  Yea,  I  am  before  all  things  :  Desire  is  born  of  me: 
I  impel  the  springs  of  Life  inward  unto  God  :  by  me  the 
earth  and  heavens  are  drawn  together. 

11.  But  I  am  hidden  until  the  time  of  the  Day's  appear- 
ing :  I  lie  beneath  the  waters  of  the  sea,  in  the  deeps  of  the 
Soul :  the  bird  of  night  seeth  me  not,  the  herds  in  the  val- 
leys, nor  the  wild  goat  in  the  cleft  of  the  hill. 

12.  As  the  fishes  of  the  sea  am  I  covered  :  I  am  secret 
and  veiled  from  sight  as  the  children  of  the  deep. 

13.  That  which  is  occult  hath  the  Fish  for  a  symbol;  for 
the  fish  is  hidden  in  darkness  and  silence  :  he  knoweth  the 
secret  piaces  of  the  earth,  and  the  springs  of  the  hollow 
sea. 

14.  Even  so  Love  reacheth  to  the  uttermost :  so  find  I 
the  secrets  of  all  things  ;  having  my  beginning  and  my  end 
in  the  Wisdom  of  God. 

1 5.  The  Spirit  of  Counsel  is  begotten  in  the  Soul ;  even 
as  the  fish  in  the  bosom  of  the  waters. 

16.  From  the  sanctuary  of  the  Deep  Love  ariseth :  Sal- 
vation is  of  the  sea. 

(3) 

17.  I  am  the  Crown  of  manifold  births  and  deaths  :  I  am 
the  Interpreter  of  mysteries  and  the  Enlightener  of  Souls. 

18.  In  the  elements  of  the  Body  is  Love  imprisoned ; 


352  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

lying  asleep  in  the  caves  of  lacchos ;  in  the  crib  of  the  oxen 
of  Demeter. 

19.  But  when  the  Day-star  of  the  soul  ariseth  over  the 
earth,  then  is  the  Epiphany  of  Love. 

20.  Therefore  until  the  labour  of  the  Third  Day  be  ful- 
filled, the  light  of  Love  is  unmanifest. 

21.  Then  shall  I  unlock  the  gates  of  Dawn;  and  the 
glory  of  God  shall  ascend  before  the  eyes  of  men. 

(4) 

22.  The  secret  of  the  angel  Anael  is  at  the  heart  of  the 
world  :  the  Song  of  God  is  the  sound  of  the  stars  in  their 
courses. 

23.  O  Love,  thou  art  the  latent  heat  of  the  earth ;  the 
strength  of  the  wine  ;  the  joy  of  the  orchard  and  the  corn- 
field :  thou  art  the  Spirit  of  song  and  laughter,  and  of  the 
desire  of  Life ! 

24.  By  thee,  O  Goddess,  pure-eyed  and  golden,  the  Sun 
and  the  Moon  are  revealed  :  Love  is  the  Counsellor  of 
Heaven. 

25.  Cloud  and  vapour  melt  before  thee  :  thou  unveilest  to 
earth  the  Rulers  of  the  immeasurable  skies 

26.  Thou  makest  all  things  luminous :  thou  discoverest 
all  deeps ; 

27.  From  the  womb  of  the  sea  to  the  heights  of  heaven ; 
from  the  shadowy  Abyss  to  the  Throne  of  the  Lord. 

28.  Thy  Beloved  is  as  a  Ring-dove,  wearing  the  ensign  of 
the  Spirit,  and  knowing  the  secrets  thereof. 

29.  Fly,  fly,  O  Dove  ;  the  time  of  Spring  cometh :  in  the 
far  east  the  Dawn  ariseth  :  she  hath  a  message  for  thee  to 
beax  from  earth  to  heaven  I 


No.  XIII. 

FRAGMENTS  FROM  THE  "  GOLDEA  BOOK  OF  VENUS,** 

Part  II 


A    DISCOURSE   OF  THE   COMMUNION   OF   SOULS,  AND   OF  THE 
USES   OF   LOVE   BETWEEN    CREATURE  AND   CREATURE. 

Herein   is  Love's  secret,  and  the  mystery  of  the  Com- 
munion of  Saints. 

2.  Love  redeemeth.  Love  lifteth  up,  Love  enlighteneth, 
Love  advanceth  souls. 

3.  Love  dissolveth  not,  neither  forgetteth :  for  she  is  of 
the  soul,  and  hath  everlasting  remembrance. 

4.  Verily  love  is  doubly  blessed,  for  she  enricheth  both 
giver  and  receiver. 

5.  Thou  who  lovest,  givest  of  thyself  to  thy  beloved,  and 
he  is  dowered  withal. 

6.  And  if  any  creature  whom  thou  lovest,  suffereth 
death  and  departeth  from  thee, 

7.  Fain  wouldst  thou  give  of  thine  heart's  blood  to  have 
him  live  always  ;  to  sweeten  the  changes  before  him,  and  to 
lift  him  to  some  happy  place. 

8.  Thou  droppest  tears  on  the  broken  body  of  thy 
beloved  :  thy  desire  goeth  after  him,  and  thou  criest  unto 
his  ghost ; 

9.  "  O  Dearest,  would  God  that  I  might  be  with  thee 
where  now  thou  art ;  and  know  what  now  thou  doest  I 

353  A  A 


354  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

10.  "Would  God  that  I  might  still  guard  and  protect 
thee ;  that  I  might  defend  thee  from  all  pain  and  wrong 
and  affliction  ! 

11.  "  But  what  manner  of  change  is  before  thee  I  know 
not :  neither  can  mine  eyes  follow  thy  steps. 

12.  "  Many  are  the  lives  set  before  thee  :  and  the  years, 
O  Beloved,  are  long  and  weary  that  shall  part  us ! 

13.  "  Shall  I  know  thee  again  when  I  see  thee :  and  will 
the  Spirit  of  God  say  to  thee  in  that  day,  *This  is  thy 
beloved '  ? 

14.  "  O  soul  of  my  soul !  would  God  I  were  one  with 
thee,  even  though  it  were  in  death ! 

15.  "Thou  hast  all  of  my  love,  my  desire,  and  my 
sorrow :  yea,  my  life  is  mingled  with  thine,  and  is  gone 
forth  with  thee  ! 

16.  "Visit  me  in  dreams:  comfort  me  in  the  night- 
watches  ;  let  my  ghost  meet  thine  in  the  land  of  shadows 
and  of  sleep. 

17.  "  Every  night  with  fervent  longing  will  I  seek  thee  : 
Persephone  and  slumber  shall  give  me  back  the  past. 

18.  "  Yea,  death  shall  not  take  thee  wholly  from  me  :  for 
part  of  me  is  in  thee,  and  where  thou  goest,  Dearest,  there 
my  heart  foUoweth  ! " 

19.  So  weepest  thou  and  lamentest,  because  the  soul 
thou  lovest  is  taken  from  thy  sight. 

20.  And  life  seemeth  to  thee  a  bitter  thing :  yea,  thou 
cursest  the  destiny  of  all  living  creatures. 

21.  And  thou  deemest  thy  love  of  no  avail,  and  thy 
tears  as  idle  drops. 

22.  Behold  !  Love  is  a  ransom,  and  the  tears  thereof 
are  prayers. 

23.  And  if  thou  have  lived  purely,  thy  fervent  desire 
shall  be  counted  grace  to  the  soul  of  thy  dead. 


APPENDIX  XIIL  355 


24.  For  the  burning  and  continual  prayer  of  the  just 
availeth  much. 

25.  Yea,  thy  love  shall  enfold  the  soul  which  thou 
lovest :  it  shall  be  unto  him  a  wedding  garment,  and  a 
vesture  of  blessing. 

26.  The  baptism  of  thy  sorrow  shall  baptize  thy  dead; 
and  he  shall  rise  because  of  it. 

27.  Thy  prayers  shall  lift  him  up,  and  thy  tears  shall 
encompass  his  steps :  thy  love  shall  be  to  him  a  light 
shining  upon  the  upward  way. 

28.  And  the  Angels  of  God  shall  say  unto  him,  "O 
happy  soul,  that  art  so  well-beloved :  that  art  made  so 
strong  with  all  these  tears  and  sighs. 

29.  "  Praise  the  Father  of  Spirits  therefor :  for  this  great 
love  shall  save  thee  many  incarnations. 

30.  "  Thou  art  advanced  thereby :  thou  art  drawn  aloft 
and  carried  upward  by  cords  of  grace." 

31.  For  in  such  wise  do  souls  profit  one  another, 
and  have  communion,  and  receive  and  give  blessing : 
the  departed  of  the  living,  and  the  living  of  the  de- 
parted. 

32.  And  so  much  the  more  as  the  heart  within  them 
is  clean ;  and  the  way  of  their  intention  innocent  in  the 
sight  of  God. 

33.  Yea,  the  Saint  is  a  strong  redeemer:  the  Spirit  of 
God  striveth  within  him. 

34.  And  God  withstandeth  not  God :  for  love  and  God 
are  One. 

35.  As  the  love  of  Christ  hath  power  with  the  elect, 
so  hath  power  in  its  degree  the  love  of  a  man  for  his 
friend. 

36.  Yea,  though  the  soul  beloved  be  little  and  mean :  a 
creature  not  made  in  the  likeness  of  men. 


356  THE  PEPFECT  WAY. 

37.  For  in  the  eyes  of  love  there  is  nothing  little  nor 
poor,  nor  unworthy  of  prayer. 

38.  O  little  Soul,  thou  art  mighty  if  a  child  of  God 
love  thee  :  yea,  poor  and  simple  Soul,  thou  art  possessed  of 
great  riches  ! 

39.  Better  is  thy  portion  than  the  portion  of  kings  whom 
the  curse  of  the  oppressed  pursueth. 

40.  For  as  Love  is  strong  to  redeem  and  to  advance  a 
soul,  so  is  hatred  strong  to  torment  and  to  detain. 

41.  Blessed  is  the  soul  whom  the  just  commemorate 
before  God :  for  whom  the  poor  and  the  orphan  and  the 
dumb  creature  weep. 

42.  And  thou,  O  righteous  man,  that  with  burning  love 
bewailest  the  death  of  the  innocent,  whom  thou  canst  not 
save  from  the  hands  of  the  unjust : 

43.  Thou  who  wouldst  freely  give  of  thine  own  blood  to 
redeem  thy  brother,  and  to  loosen  the  bonds  of  his  pain  : 

44.  Know  that  in  the  hour  of  thy  supreme  desire,  God 
accepteth  thine  oblation. 

45.  And  thy  love  shall  not  return  unto  thee  empty  : 
according  to  the  greatness  of  her  degree,  she  shall  accom- 
plish thy  will. 

46.  And  thy  sorrow  and  tears  and  the  travail  of  thy 
spirit,  shall  be  grace  and  blessing  to  the  soul  thou  wouldst 
redeem. 

47.  Count  not  as  lost  thy  suffering  on  behalf  of  other 
*ouls  :  for  every  cry  is  a  prayer,  and  all  prayer  is  power. 

48.  That  thou  wiliest  to  do  is  done  :  thine  intention  is 
united  to  the  will  of  Divine  Love. 

49.  Nothing  is  lost  of  that  which  thou  layest  out  for  God 
and  for  thy  brother. 

50.  And  it  is  Love  alone  who  redeemeth  :  and  Love  hath 
nothing  of  her  owa 


No.   XIV. 
HYMN  TO  HERMES, 
\  I. 

As  a  moving  light  between  heaven  and  earth  \  as  a  white 
cloud  assuming  many  shapes  ; 

2.  He  descends  and  rises,  he  guides  and  illumines,  he 
transmutes  himself  from  small  to  great,  from  bright  to 
shadowy,  from  the  opaque  image  to  the  diaphanous  mist. 

3.  Star  of  the  East  conducting  the  Magi :  cloud  from 
whose  midst  the  holy  voice  speaketh  :  by  day  a  pillar  of 
vapour,  by  night  a  shining  flame. 

4.  I  behold  thee,  Hermes,  Son  of  God,  slayer  of  Argus, 
archangel,  who  bearest  the  rod  of  knowledge,  by  which  all 
things  in  heaven  or  on  earth  are  measured. 

5.  Double  serpents  entwine  it,  because  as  serpents  they 
must  be  wise  who  desire  God. 

6.  And  upon  thy  feet  are  living  wings,  bearing  thee  fear- 
less through  space  and  over  the  abyss  of  darkness ;  because 
they  must  be  without  dread  to  dare  the  void  and  the  deep, 
who  desire  to  attain  and  to  achieve. 

7 .  Upon  thy  side  thou  wearest  a  sword  of  a  single  stone, 
two  edged,  whose  temper  resisteth  all  things. 

8.  For  they  who  would  slay  or  save  must  be  armed  with 
a  strong  and  perfect  will,  defying  and  penetrating  with  no 
uncertain  force. 

9.  This  is  Herpe,  the  sword  which  destroyeth  demons ; 


358  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

by  whose  aid  the  hero  overcometh,  and  the  saviour  is  able 
to  deHver. 

10.  Except  thou  bind  it  upon  thy  thigh  thou  shalt  be 
overborne,  and  blades  of  mortal  making  shall  prevail 
against  thee. 

11.  Nor  is  this  all  thine  equipment,  Son  of  God;  the 
covering  of  darkness  is  upon  thine  head,  and  none  is  able 
to  strike  thee. 

12.  This  is  the  magic  hat,  brought  from  Hades,  the 
region  of  silence,  where  they  are  who  speak  not. 

13.  He  who  bears  the  world  on  his  shoulders  shall  gi\« 
it  to  thee,  lest  the  world  fall  on  thee,  and  thou  be  ground 
into  powder. 

14.  For  he  who  has  perfect  wisdom  and  knowledge,  he 
whose  steps  are  without  fear,  and  whose  will  is  single  and 
all-pervading ; 

15.  Even  he  must  also  know  how  to  keep  the  divine 
secret,  and  not  to  expose  the  holy  mysteries  of  God  to  the 
senses  of  the  wicked. 

16.  Keep  a  bridle  upon  thy  lips,  and  cover  thy  head  in 
the  day  of  battle. 

17.  These  are  the  four  excellent  things, — the  rod,  the 
wings,  the  sword,  and  the  hat. 

18.  Knowledge,  which  thou  must  gain  with  labour :  the 
spirit  of  holy  boldness,  which  cometh  by  faith  in  God  \  a 
mighty  will,  and  a  complete  discretion. 

19.  He  who  discovers^  the  holy  mysteries  is  lost. 

20.  Go  thy  way  in  silence,  and  see  thou  tell  no  man. 

*  /./.,  uncovers,  or  discloses^  to  profane  eyes. 


No.  XV. 

THE  SECRET  OF  SAT  AH, 

(I.) 

And  on  the  seventh  day  there  went  forth  from  the  presence 
of  God  a  mighty  Angel,  full  of  wrath  and  consuming,  and 
God  gave  unto  him  the  dominion  of  the  outermost  sphere. 

2.  Eternity  brought  forth  Time  ;  the  Boundless  gave  birth 
to  Limit ;  Being  descended  into  Generation. 

3.  As  lightning  I  beheld  Satan  fall  from  heaven,  splendid 
ir»  strength  and  fury. 

4.  Among  the  Gods  is  none  like  unto  him,  into  whose 
hand  are  committed  the  kingdoms,  the  power  and  the  glory 
of  the  worlds  : 

5.  Thrones  and  empires,  the  dynasties  of  kings,  the  fall 
of  nations,  the  birth  of  churches,  the  triumphs  of  Time. 

6.  They  arise  and  pass,  they  were  and  are  not ;  the  sea 
and  the  dust  and  the  immense  mystery  of  space  devour 
them. 

7.  The  tramp  of  armies,  the  voices  of  joy  and  of  pain,  the 
cry  of  the  new-born  babe,  the  shout  of  the  warrior  mortally 
smitten  : 

8.  Marriage,  divorce,  division,  violent  deaths,  martyr- 
doms, tyrannous  ignorances,  the  impotence  of  passionate 
protest,  and  the  mad  longing  for  oblivion  : 

9.  The  eyes  of  the  tiger  in  the  jungle,  the  fang  of  the 


36o  THE  PERFECT  WAY. 

snake,  the  foetor  of  slaughter-houses,  the  wail  of  innocent 
beasts  in  pain  : 

10.  The  innumerable  incarnations  of  Spirit,  the  strife  to- 
wards Manhood,  the  ceaseless  pulse  and  current  of  Desire : — 

11.  These  are  his  who  beareth  all  the  Gods  on  his  shoul- 
ders ;  who  establisheth  the  pillars  of  Necessity  and  Fate. 

12.  Many  names  hath  God  given  him,  names  of  mystery, 
secret  and  terrible. 

13.  God  called  him  Satan  the  Adversary,  because  Matter 
opposeth  Spirit,  and  Time  accuseth  even  the  saints  of  the 
Lord. 

14.  And  the  Destroyer,  for  his  arm  breaketh  and  grindeth 
to  pieces  ;  wherefore  the  fear  and  the  dread  of  him  are  upon 
all  flesh. 

15.  And  the  Avenger,  for  he  is  the  anger  of  God;  his 
breath  shall  burn  up  all  the  souls  of  the  wicked. 

16.  And  the  Sifter,  for  he  straineth  all  things  through 
his  sieve,  dividing  the  husk  from  the  grain ;  discovering  the 
thoughts  of  the  heart ;  proving  and  purifying  the  spirit  of 
man. 

17.  And  the  Deceiver,  for  he  maketh  the  False  appear 
true,  and  concealeth  the  Real  under  the  mask  of  Illusion. 

18.  And  the  Tempter,  for  he  setteth  snares  before  the  feet 
of  the  elect ;  he  beguileth  with  vain  shows,  and  seduceth 
with  enchantments. 

19.  Blessed  are  they  who  withstand  his  subtlety :  they  shall 
be  called  the  sons  of  God,  and  shall  enter  in  at  the  beautiful 
gates. 

20.  For  Satan  is  the  doorkeeper  of  the  Temple  of  the 
King :  he  standeth  in  Solomon's  porch ;  he  holdeth  the 
Keys  of  the  Sanctuary  ; 

21.  That  no  man  may  enter  therein  save  the  anointed, 
having  the  arcanum  of  Hermes. 


APPENDIX  XV.  36" 


22.  For  Satan  is  the  Spirit  of  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  which 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.^ 

23.  He  is  the  devourer  of  the  unwise  and  the  2vil :  they 
shall  all  be  meat  and  drink  to  him. 

24.  Whatsoever  he  devoureth,  that  shall  never  more  re- 
turn into  being. 

25.  Fear  him,  for  after  he  hath  killed,  he  hath  power  to 
cast  into  hell. 

26.  But  he  is  the  servant  of  the  sons  of  God,  and  of  the 
children  of  Hght. 

27.  They  shall  go  before  him,  and  he  shall  follow  the 
steps  of  the  wise. 

28.  Stand  in  awe  of  him  and  sin  not :  speak  his  name 
with  trembling ;  and  beseech  God  daily  to  deliver  thee. 

29.  For  Satan  is  the  magistrate  of  the  Justice  of  God : 
he  beareth  the  balance  and  the  sword, 

30.  To  execute  judgment  and  vengeance  upon  all  who 
come  short  of  the  commandments  of  God ;  to  weigh  their 
works,  to  measure  their  desire,  and  to  number  their  days. 

31.  For  to  him  are  committed  Weight  and  Measure  and 
Number. 

32.  And  all  things  must  pass  under  the  rod  and  through 
the  balance,  and  be  fathomed  by  the  sounding-lead. 

33.  Therefore  Satan  is  the  Minister  of  God,  Lord  of  the 
seven  mansions  of  Hades,  the  Angel  of  the  manifest  worlds. 

34.  And  God  hath  put  a  girdle  about  his  loins,  and  the 
name  of  the  girdle  is  Death. 

35.  Threefold  are  its  coils,  for  threefold  is  the  power  of 
Death,  dissolving  the  body,  the  ghost,  and  the  soul. 

»  Ps.  A.V.  cxL,  D.  V.  ex.  10  J  Is.  xi.  2,  3.  The  first  and  "  eldest  of 
the  gods  "  in  the  order  of  microcosmic  evolution,  Saturn  (Satan)  is  the 
seventh  and  last  in  the  order  of  macrocosmic  emanation,  being  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  kingdom  of  which  Phoibos  (wisdom)  is  the  centre. 


362  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 

36.  And  that  girdle  is  black  within,  but  where  Phoibos 
strikes  it  is  silver. 

37.  None  of  the  Gods  is  girt  save  Satan,  for  upon  him 
only  is  the  shame  of  generation. 

38.  He  has  lost  his  virginal  estate  :  uncovering  heavenly 
secrets,  he  hath  entered  into  bondage. 

39.  He  encompasseth  with  bonds  and  limits  all  things 
which  are  made  :  he  putteth  chains  round  about  the  worlds, 
and  determineth  their  orbits. 

40.  By  him  are  Creation  and  Appearance ;  by  him  Birth 
and  Transformation ;  the  day  of  Begetting  and  the  night  of 
Death. 

41.  The  glory  of  Satan  is  the  shadow  of  the  Lord :  the 
throne  of  Satan  is  the  footstool  of  Adonai. 

42.  Twain  are  the  armies  of  God  :  in  heaven  the  hosts  of 
Michael ;  in  the  abyss  the  legions  of  Satan. 

43.  These  are  the  Unmanifest  and  the  Manifest  ;  the  free 
an  1  the  bound  ;  the  virginal  and  the  fallen. 

44.  And  both  are  the  ministers  of  the  Father,  fulfilling 
the  Word  divine. 

45.  The  legions  of  Satan  are  the  Creative  Emanations, 
having  the  shapes  of  dragons,  of  Titans,  and  of  elemental 
gods; 

46.  Forsaking  the  Intelligible  World,  seeking  manifesta- 
tion, renouncing  their  first  estate ; 

47.  Which  were  cast  out  into  chaos,  neither  was  their 
place  found  any  more  in  heaven. 

48.  Evil  is  the  result  of  Hmitation,  and  Satan  is  the  Lord 
of  Limit. 

49.  He  is  the  Father  of  Lies,  because  Matter  is  the  cause 
of  Illusion. 


APPENDIX  XV,  363 


50.  To  understand  the  secret  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and 
to  read  the  riddle  of  Maya,  this  is  to  have  Satan  under  foot 

51.  He  only  can  put  Satan  under  foot  who  is  released  by 
Thought  from  the  bonds  of  Desire. 

52.  Nature  is  the  allegory  of  Spirit :  all  that  appeareth 
to  the  sense  is  deceit :  to  know  the  Truth,  this  alone  shall 
make  men  free. 

53.  For  the  kingdom  of  Satan  is  the  house  of  Matter : 
yea  his  mansion  is  the  sepulchre  of  Golgotha,  wherein  on 
the  seventh  day  the  Lord  lay  sleeping,  keeping  the  Sabbath 
of  the  Unmanifest. 

54.  For  the  day  of  Satan  is  the  night  of  Spirit :  the 
manifestation  of  the  worlds  of  Form  is  the  rest  of  the  worlds 
informulate. 

5  5.  Holy  and  venerable  is  the  Sabbath  of  God  :  blessed 
and  sanctified  is  the  name  of  the  Angel  of  Hades ; 

56.  Whom  the  Anointed  shall  overcome,  rising  again  from 
the  dead  on  the  first  day  of  the  week. 

57.  For  the  place  of  Satan  is  the  bourne  of  divine  impul- 
sion :  there  is  the  arrest  of  the  outgoing  force ;  Luza,  the 
station  of  pause  and  slumber  : 

58.  Where  Jacob  lay  down  and  dreamed,  beholding  the 
ladder  which  reached  from  earth  to  heaven. 

59.  For  Jacob  is  the  planetary  Angel  lacchos,  the  Lord 
of  the  Body ; 

60.  Who  hath  left  his  Father's  House,  and  is  gone  out 
into  a  far  country. 

61.  Yet  is  Luza  none  other  than  Bethel ;  the  kingdom  of 
Satan  is  become  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  His  Christ. 

62.  For  there  the  Anointed  awakeneth,  arising  from  sleep, 
and  goeth  his  way  rejoicing  ; 

63.  Having  seen  the  vision  of  God,  and  beheld  the  s 
of  Satan ; 


364  THE  PERFECT  WAY, 


64.  Even  as  the  Lord  arose  from  the  dead  and  brake  the 
seal  of  the  Sepulchre ; 

65.  Which  is  the  portal  of  heaven,  Luza,  the  house  of 
separation,  the  place  of  stony  sleep  ; 

66.  Where  is  born  the  centripetal  force,  drawing  the  soul 
upward  and  inward  to  God ; 

67  Recalling  Existence  into  Being,  resuming  the  king- 
doms of  Matter  in  Spirit ; 

68.  Until  Satan  return  unto  his  first  estate,  and  enter 
again  into  the  heavenly  obedience ; 

69.  Having  fulfilled  the  Will  of  the  Father,  and  accom- 
plished his  holy  Ministry ; 

70.  Which  was  ordained  of  God  before  the  worlds,  for 
the  splendour  of  the  Manifest,  and  for  the  generation  of 
Christ  our  Lord ; 

71.  Who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  putting  all 
tilings  under  his  feet ;  whose  are  the  dora'nion,  the  power, 
the  glory,  and  the  Amen. 


INDEX 


OF  SUBJECTS  AND  PRINCIPAL  WORDS. 

The  Roman  numerals  refer  to  the  number  of  the  Lecture,  or  of 
the  Appendix;  the  Arabic  numerals  to  the  paragraph  quoted; 
App.  is  for  Appendix;  Pref.  for  Preface;  Pref.  R.E.  for 
Preface  to  Revised  Edition;  Pt.  for  Part;  and  n  for  footnote. 

of     Desolation, 


Abomination 
App.  vi. 

Abraham,  Brahma,  viii.  51. 
Children  of,  i.  Z2>  I  vi.  i,  2. 

Acts  of  Soul,  vi.  2;  viii.  28. 

Adam,  iv.  31 ;  v.  10;  vi.  i,  2,  15, 
19,  20,  22,  25,  32;  vii.  20, 
21,  32;  viii.  27,  41;  ix.  9, 
20 ;  App.  i.  I ;  iii.  Pt.  2. 

Adam  Kadmon,  ix.  5,  18. 

Adam,  Old,  iv.  24 ;  viii.  7. 

Adept,  iv.  30;  V.  39;  viii.  12. 

Admetus,  his  oxen,  ix.  16. 

Adonai,  vi.  4,  5,  36;  viii.  14;  ix, 
5,  8,  41,  42,  46,  50,  51,  52, 
53;  App.  iv.  9;  X.  (3);xi. 

Advent,  vi.  39. 
Second,  App.  vi. 

Affinity,  Celestial,  iii.  40. 

Agnostic,  ii.  39;  v.  27;  vi.  29. 

Alchemic  Science,  ix.  12. 

Alchemists,  viii.  43. 

Alchemy,  Higher,  App.  vii. 

Allah,  viii.  53. 

Alpha  and  Omega,  Pref.  R.E. 
vii;  V.  18;  ix.  5. 

Ambrose,  vi.  8. 


367 


Amoeba,  v.  2. 

Amun-Ra,  vi.  15. 

Anael,  ix.  27,  n;  App.  xiii.  Pt. 

I  (4). 
Ancients,  App.  x.  (4). 
Anima  Bruta,  ii.  21,  24;  v.  25, 

26,  35 ;  vii.  14 ;  App.  ii. 
Divina,   ii.  24;   vii.   14;   viii. 

42;  App.  ii. 
Mundi,  V.  39. 
Animals,  iii.  21;  vii.  53. 

First  appearance  of,  i.  40. 
Anna,  v.  43 ;  App.  xi. 
Annihilation,  ii.  17;  vii.  17. 
Antichrist,  iv.  28;  viii.  53;  ix. 

23. 
Anubis,  ix.  15. 
Aphrodite,    ii.   35;   v.  40;   viii. 

28;    Hymn   of    App.    xiii., 

Pt.  I. 
Girdle  of,  ix.  16. 
Apocalypse,  vi.  3;  vii.  27',  viii. 

34,  36,  41,  43 ;  ix.  2. 
Apollo,  Arrows  of,  ix.  16, 
Apollonius,  i.  38. 
Apollos,  iv.  9. 
Aquarius,  App.  vi. 


368 


INDEX. 


Arche,  ii.  34;  v.  4,  14;  vi.  6,  31. 
Ardha-Nari,  ix.  5,  52. 
Argus,  ix.  13;  App.  xiv. 
Aristotle,  ix.  25. 
Arjun,  viii.  12;  ix.  3,  52. 
Ark,  ii.  2>7',  vi.  3;  viii.  44;  App. 

i.  I ;  V.  39. 
Arnold,  Edwin,  iv.  15. 

Matthew,  Pref.  R.E.  in. 
Artemis,  ii.  35.  See  also  Diana. 
Arthur  or  Ar-thor,  viii.  44. 
Ascension,  Pref.  R.E.  ix ;  viii. 
8,  28,  40;  and  Descension, 
iii.  53 ;  iv.  31 ;  vi.  2. 
Asceticism,  viii.  14. 
Assumption   of   Virgin,   v.   44, 

45;  viii.  40. 
Assyria,  vi.  6. 
Astrsea,  vi.  z^',  vii.  55. 
Astral  Body,  ii.  13 ;  iii.  2,  4. 

Fluid,  i.  26;  ii.  21. 

Medium,  iv.  16. 

Phantoms,  iii.  28. 

Plane,  ii.   14. 

Soul,  V.  35,  41. 

Sphere,  v.  2)7- 
Atheism,  i.  55^;  ii.  24;  vi.  29. 
Atman,  i.  7. 

Atonement,  iii.  3;  iv.  i,  16;  vi. 
39;  viii.  4,  6,  47;  ix.  22. 

Current  Doctrine  of,  iv.  3. 

Fourfold,  iv.  2. 
Augustine,  i.  45 ;  viii.  39. 
Avatar,  ii.  24 ;  v.  41 ;  App.  ii. ; 

X.   (4). 
Azote,  Heb.  Azoth,  ii.  20. 


Baalzebub,  ii.  18. 


Bacchos,  V.  16;  viii.  52. 
Baptism,  iii.  53;  vi.  2;  viii.  19, 

28. 
for  Dead,  App.  xiii.,  Pt.  2,  26. 
or  Betrothal,  viii.  28. 
with  Fire  and  Water,  i.  7. 
Baptist,  viii.  38,  49. 
Bath-Kol,  i.  25. 
Beatific  Vision,  iv.  19. 
Bells  of  High  Priest,  iv.  13. 
Bethel,  vi.  i;  App.  xv.  (2). 
Beyond,  The,  iii.  3. 
Bhagavat  Gita,  ix.  3,  11. 
Bible,  ii.  46;  vi.  9;  vii.  18;  viii. 

53. 
Biblical  Interpretation,  vii.  2>2>' 
Requisites  for,  i.  47. 
Biologist,  V.  ZZ- 
Biology,  ix.  17. 
Birth,  Second  or  New,  v.  45 ; 

App.  xii.  (i). 
Bitterness,  Sea  of,  ii.  36;  viii. 

Blavatsky,  his  Unveiled,  iv.  12, 

n. 
Blood,  iv.  12 ;  vi.  2>^,  42 ;  vii.  29, 
52;  viii.  16. 
of  Christ,  mystical,  iv.  19,  23. 
Partakers  of,  iv.  6,  8,  19. 
Bloody  Sacrifice,  iv.  6,  11 ;  App. 

i.  I. 
Body,  vi.  20;  viii.  i,  3,  13,  14. 
Fourfold,  iii.  4. 
Redemption  of,  ix.  54;  App. 

xii.   (2). 
Transfiguration  of,  App.  vii. 
12. 
Boehme,  iii.  2>Z. 
Book  Worship,  i.  24. 


INDEX. 


369 


of    Revelation,    vii.    19.    See 

also  Apocal3T)se. 
Borrowing  of  Egyptians,  vi.  12, 
Bow,  Heavenly,  vi.  z^- 
Brahma,  vi.  2;  viii.  51,  52;  ix. 

52. 
Bosom  of,  iii.  16. 
Bride,  The  Soul  as,  v.  14;  viii. 

41,  43- 
Buddha,  i.  44;   ii.  46;  viii.   12, 

25,  49,  50,  51. 
Buddhism,  v.  43,  n. 
Burial,  vi.  2;  viii.  8,  28;  App. 

V.  49. 
Butler,  S.,  V,  2,  n. 

Caesar,  viii.  2>^. 

Caiaphas,  iv.  9. 

Cain,  iii.  21;  vii.  52;  App.  i.  i. 

Caleb,  ix,  15. 

Calvinists,  vi.  21 ;  ix.  2^. 

Cana,  iii.  50;  iv.  25. 

Carpocrates,  i.  39. 

Catholic  Doctrine,  v.  43. 

Causes  and  Effects,  World  of, 

V.  8. 
Cave,  viii.  2)7- 
Cell,  Physiologic,  i.  27;  V.   15, 

34;  viii.  44,  48;  App.  iv. 
Centurion,  iii.  35. 
Cerberus,  viii.  22. 
Cerebration,     Unconscious,     v. 

Ceremonial  Rites,  iv.  7. 
Ceylon,  viii.  50,  n.  i. 
Chaldaea,  viii,  52. 
Chalice,  iv.  25. 

Golden,  vi.  42;  vii.  3. 
Chaos,  vii.  13;  App.  xv.  (i). 


Character  as  Destiny,  ii.  25. 

Chastity,  viii.  20. 

Chaucer,  v.  35,  n. 

Chavah,  vi.  15,  23,  31. 

Cherubic,  iii.  4. 

Cherubim,  iii.  2)^]  vi.  2,  4,  13; 

ix.  49. 
Chrism,  App.  vi. ;  xii.  107. 
Christ  Jesus,  i.  42,  50;  iv.  8,  27; 
viii.  27,  51. 
as  Person,  App.  vi. 
Christ  Jesus,  Share  in  Redemp- 
tion, App.  V. 
The  Advent  Millennial  Reign 

of,  viii.  54. 
The  Blood  of,  iv.  25. 
Christ,  The,   Pref.  R.  E.  viii; 
iii.  14,  53 ;  iv.  26,  27 ;  vi.  15, 
39;  vii.  18,  26;  viii.  4,  13; 
ix.  II,  53;  App.  x.  (3). 
Christs,  The,  iv.  30;  vii.  49; 
viii.  12,  15,  16,  27,  45;  ix. 
II,  29. 
The  Ideal,  i.  SSd)  viii.  4,  45. 
51. 
Christhood,  vii.  43-45 ;  viii.  18 ; 

ix.  22,  53. 
Christian  Belief,  i.  44. 
Christianity,  Pref.  R.E.  i;  vii. 
19;  viii.  49. 
Degradation  of,  iii.  30. 
Dogmas     and     Symbols     of, 

Pref.  R.  E.  iv. 
Failure  of,  i.  55c ;  viii.  26. 
Historic,  i.  50;  55&. 
Identical     with     other     Sys- 
tems, Pref.  R.E.  iv;  i.  43- 

45. 
Church,  Pref.  vi.  2,  27,  28,  29, 


Z7Q 


INDEX. 


30;  vii.  34,  35,  36,  37,  38,39, 

50;  ix.  10. 
Fathers  of,  ix.  26. 
Lodge,  or  Mystic  Commun- 
ity, vi.  14. 
of  Christ,  V.  46. 
Rests  on  Custom,  i.  50. 
Churches,   Eastern  and   West- 
ern, ix.  43;  App.  X.  (3). 
Civilization,  Present,  vii.  55. 
Clemens,  Alex.,  vi.  8;   ix.  22; 

App.  V.  9. 
Clifford,  Professor,  i.  35,  n. 
Colleges    of    Mysteries,    i.    44; 

vii.  41, 
Common  Sense,  i.  23. 
Communion,  Holy,  iv.  ^6,  z?- 
of  Souls,  App.  xiii.,  Pt.  2. 
Community,  Mystic,  vii.  43,  44. 
Cone,  App.  xii.  (3). 
Conjunctions,  Planetary,  ii.  25. 
Conscience,  i.  52;  vi.  27;  vii.  i, 

22,]  App.  i.  I. 
Consciousness,  i.  2>3  \  v.  2,  3,  7, 

12,  22,  25,  31;  vi.   17,   19; 

vii.  10,  14,  37;  viii.  5;  ix. 

34;  App.  ii.;  X.  (i). 
Point  of,  v.  30. 
Constantine,  i.  556. 
Consummation,  v.  34;  viii.  41. 
Controls,  iii.  20,  48,  59. 
Correspondences,  i.  10,  14;  vii. 

2,  7 ;  ix.  19. 
Counterparts,  Astral,  iii.  7. 
Covering  Angels,  iii.  36. 
Creation,   i.  29;   ii.   9,    19;    iii. 

3;    v.    41;    vi.    2,    8;    vii. 

4,     44;     viii.     5,     41;     ix. 

44. 


Creative  Week,  vii.  50;  viii.  28, 

App.  xi. 
Credo  of  the  Elect,  ix.  54. 
Creed,  Transition  of,  Pref.  R. 

E.  vii. 
Cremation,  viii.  9. 
Cross,  i.  56;  iv.  9;  vi.  15;  viii. 
53;  App.  V.  49. 
Fourfold  Meaning  of,  iv.  21. 
Prehistoric,   on    Monuments, 

iv.  20. 
Sign  of,  in  Heaven,  iv.  30. 
Sun's  Equinoctial  Passage  of 

Ecliptic,  iv.  20. 
Tree  of  Life,  iv.  20. 
Why  Fourfold,  iv.  21. 
Crucible,    Alchemic,    App.    vii. 

14- 
Crucifixion,  i.  49;  iv.  29,  31 ;  vii. 
43;  viii.  7,  8,  28,  Z7i  41,  4^; 
App.  vi. 
Mystery  of,  iv.  22. 
of  God,  iv.  35. 
Crustacea,  iii.  21. 
Curse  of  Eve,  vi.  16,  39;  vii.  55. 
Cyrus,  Pref. 

Daemon.     See  Genii. 
Daniel,  viii.  52;  ix.  2. 

His  Angel,  App.  vi. 
David,  viii.  27,  45;  ix.  14. 

Son  of,  ix.  12. 
Death,  v.  21;  App.  ii.*  iv. ;  xii. 
6,  107;  xiii.  Pt.  2. 

First,  App.  xii.  (6),  98,  107. 

Sting  of,  V.  34. 
Decan,  vi.  27- 

Deity,  Two  Modes  of,  i.  28,  29; 
v.  18;  ix.  9;  App.  xi. 


INDEX. 


371 


Delphi,  ii.  3. 

Demeter,  vi.  4;  viii.  28,  29,  37; 

App.  xiii.  (3). 
Depolarisation,  vi.  20. 
Destiny,  ii.  25. 

Moral,  of  Planets,  v.  41. 
Deucalion  and  Pyrrha,  i.  33. 
Development,  i.  32. 
Devil,  i.  46;  ii.  6,  11;  iii.  9-15, 

21 ;  iv.  31 ;  vii.  29;  viii.  3, 

13 ;  App.  V.  3. 
No  Personal,  iii.  9. 
Dharmasastra  Sutras,  v.  41,  n. 
Diana,  iv.    14.     See  also  Arte- 
mis. 
Dimension,  Fourth,  ii.  34;  App. 

iii.  Pt.  2,  41 ;  X. ;  xiii.  Pt.  i, 

(2). 
Dionysos,  i.  56;  v.  16. 
Dissolution,  v.  35. 
Dissolvent,  viii.  12;  App.  v.  52, 
Divination,    Chalice    of,    App. 

xii.   (6). 
Divine  Impersonal,  v.  2.3. 
Dragon,  Pref.  vii.  42;  App.  i.  i. 

of  Apocalypse,  vi.  37. 
Dryads,  iii.  34. 
Dualism,  i.  34;  iii.  29;  vii.  2,  11, 

12;  viii.  3*;  ix.  42,  45. 
of  Nature,  ii.  42;  vii.  i;  ix. 

24.    See  God,  Man. 
Dyaus,  Deus,  Theos,  ii.  42. 
Dynamite,  i.  55^. 

Eagle,  vi.  4;  viii.  29. 
Earth,  vi.  19;  vii.  12,  n.  I. 

Life,  Inequalities  of,  i.  41. 

Spirits  of,  iii.  17. 
East,  viii.  23,  36. 


Kings  of,  viii.  36,  53. 
Easter,  vi.  31. 
Ecclesiasticism,  Despair  of,  ix. 

10. 
Ecstacy,  ix.  34. 
Eden,  vi.  6,  19,  38 ;  vii.  5,  18,  30, 

36;  ix.  25;.  App.  i.  I. 
Rivers  of,  i.  10;  vi.  6,  7,  14. 
Effulgence,  App.  x.  (3). 
Ego,   The,   Pref.   R.   E.  iii,  vi, 

viii;  V.  3,  12,  30,  31 ;  App. 

viii. 
Noumenal,  v.  28. 
Egypt,  viii.  30,  31,  52;  ix.  12. 
Egyptian    Evidences ;    Thebes, 

Elephantine    Edfou,    Kar- 

nak,  V.  13,  18. 
Gospel,  ix.  22. 
Mysteries,  vi.  12,  13;  App.  i. 

2. 
Eidolon,  i.  54 ;  iv.  15 ;  v.  35-. 
Eirenicon,  Pref.  R.  E.  x;  Pref. 

viii. 
Ejective,  v.  31,  3.3. 
Elect,  App.  vi. ;  xi.  n;  xiii.  Pt. 

2. 
Credo  of  the,  ix.  54. 
Electric  Current,  iii.  22. 
Elemental   Kingdoms,  App.   x. 

(2). 
Elementals,  iii.  5,  17,  20,  34;  vi. 

4,  26. 
Elias,  viii.  48. 
Eliphas  Levi,  Pref.  R.  E.  x;  iv. 

12,  n;  vi.  32. 
Elixir  of  Life,  viii.  11. 
Elohim,  ii.   21,  32;   iii.  37;  vi. 

5 ;  ix.  16,  44,  45 ;  App.  xi. 
El-Shaddai,  ii.  42;  ix.  5,  42. 


Z7^ 


INDEX. 


Elves,  iii.  34. 

Emanation,  App.  xv.  22,  n. 
Emanations,  iii.  6;  iv.  16,   17. 
Embalming,  viii.  9. 
Embryonic  Development,  v.  18. 
Emotion  and  Intellect,  ix.  25. 
End,  Times  of  the,  App.  vi. 
England  and  the  East,  viii.  51, 

53, 
Enoch,  viii.  53. 

Enthusiasm,  ix.  29,  31,  33-39. 
Environment,  v.  29. 
Epicurus,  ix.  39. 
Epiphanius,  iv.  13. 
Epiphany   of   Love,   App.   xiii. 

Pt.  I  (3). 
Epopt,  i.  35. 
Esau,  ii.  39. 
Esther,  vi.  31. 
Eternal  Life,  iv.  31 ;  vi.  21 ;  viii. 

41 ;  ix.  53. 

Ethiopia,  Pref.  vi.  6. 
Eucharistic  Wafer,  vi.  34,  viii. 

41. 

Euphrates,  vi.  6;  viii.  26,  53. 

Eve,  Pref.  R.  E.  ix;  v.  10;  vi. 
15,  16,  17,  19,  20,  22,  23,  31 ; 
vii,  20,  21 ;  viii.  32,  35,  39, 
41;  ix.  20;  App.  i.  Pt.  I. 

Everard,  Dr.,  Pref.  R.  E.  vii. 

Evil,  ii.  9 ;  vii.  17. 
Spirits,  iii.  15. 

Evolution,  i.  32,  40;  v.  i,  10,  32, 
45 ;  vi.  14 ;  vii.  37 ;  viii.  27, 
32,  Z7,  41 ;  ix.  53 ;  App.  ii. 
Occult  Law  of,  V.  32. 

Evolution,  Post-mortem,  iii.  19. 
Spiritual,  i.  8. 

Exile,  Pref.  R.  E.  ix;  iv.  31. 


Existence,    Pref.   R.   E.   iii;   ii. 

29;  vi.  31;  vii.  7,  17,  37,49; 

viii.  5,  43 ;  ix.  9,  18 ;  App.  ii. 
Previous,  and  Ezra,  vi.  10. 
Exodus,  ix.  2;  App.  xii.  (6). 
Experience,  ii.  10;  viii.  4. 
Ezekiel,   iii.   5;   vi.  3,  34;   viii. 

Z^ ;  ix.  2. 

Fairies,  iii.  34. 
Faith,  i.  51;  vi.  27. 
of  Christendom,  Pref.  R.  E. 
iv;  i.  55. 
Fall,  Pref.  R.  E.  vi;  i.  52;  iv. 

31;  vi.  7,  10,  13,  29,  31;  vii. 

I,  51;  viii.  i;  App.  i.  2. 
Mosaic  Account,  Allegorical, 

vi.  8. 
of  Angels,  viii.  5;   App.  xv. 

(2). 
Fig-tree,  Parable  of,  App.  vi. ; 

xii.   (2). 
Finding  Christ,  i.  11 ;  ii.  47;  vi. 

19. 
Fire  and  Motion,  ii.  22. 

Spirits,  iii.  17. 
Fish,    Occult    Significance    of, 

viii.  28;   ix.   10;  App.  xiii. 

Pt.   I,    (2). 
Fixation  of  the  Volatile,  iv.  31 ; 

vi.  20;  vii.  39;  viii.  22. 
Flesh,  Diet  of,  iii.  60;   iv.   18; 

vi.  24. 
Flight,  Mystic,  viii.  52;  App.  i. 

i;  xii.  (6). 
Flood,  App.  i.  I. 
Forbidden  Fruit,  viii.  10;  App. 

i.  I. 
Force,  v.  4;  vii.  13,  40;  ix.  44. 


INDEX. 


373 


Centripetal   and   Centrifugal, 
V.  5. 
Free  Love,  iii.  30. 

Gadarene  Demoniacs,  iii.  15. 
Gates,  App.  v.  33-44- 
Gautama  Buddha,  i.  38;  iv.  15; 

vi.  42;  viii.  48. 
Gehenna,  vi.   6, 
Gehon,  vi.  6. 
Genealogy,  ix  11. 
Genesis,  vi.  6,  7 ;  vii.  32. 

by  Ezra,  not  Moses,  vi.   10. 
Genii,  iii.  37,  44,  45,  46,  47,  48, 

49,  55. 
Loci,  iii.  34. 
Ghost,  iii.  19;  v.  36-38. 

of  Events,  i.  16;  iii.  7. 
Gilgal  Neshamoth,  App.  ii. 
Globe,  Igneous,  v.  24,  26. 
Gnosis,  Pref.  R.  E.  i;  vi.  9,  25, 
26 ;  vii.  48 ;  viii.  53 ;  ix.  7, 
n. 
God,  ii.  16;  V.  25,  31;  ix.  i,  8, 
40,  41;  App.  V.  5;  xii.  (2). 
Androgynous,  ix,  8,  41. 
As  Lord,  ix.  2-9. 
Blood  of,  viii.   16. 
Duality  of,  ii.  34;  ix.  45,  50. 
God-consciousness,  v.  16,  28, 

32. 
Immolation  of,  viii.  41. 
Kingdom  of,  Pref.  R.  E.  vii; 

ii.  32. 
of  Hosts,  ii.  41. 
Personal  and  Impersonal,  v. 

9. 

Vision  of,  see  Sight. 
Works  of,  ii.  32;  App.  v. 


God-Man,  viii.  11. 
Gods  and  Goddesses,  ii.  43. 
not  limited  in  number,  v.  19. 
Personality    Indefeasible,    v. 

42. 
Golden  Age,  ii.  18;  vi.  14,  16, 

24,  38;  vii.  40,  50,  55. 
Goliath,  ix.   14. 
Gospel    of    Interpretation,    vii. 

53;  App.  iii.  Pt.  2,  36. 
Gospels,  viii.  24,  28,  29,  32,  42. 

of  Love  and  Force,  i.  55^. 
Grand  Man,  ix.  5. 
Gravitation,  Spiritual,  vii.  18. 
Great  Work,  viii.  23 ;   App.  v. 

56. 
Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  vi.  8. 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  vi.  8. 
Guardian  Angel,  iii.  29,  37,  46- 

58. 
Guides,  iii.  20, 
Gulf,  Great,  iii.  16. 

Hades,     Seven    Mansions    of, 

App.  XV. 
Hayman,  Dr.,  v.  35,  n. 
Healing  Powers,  iii.  18. 
Heaven,  i.  8;  iv.  16;  vi.  19. 

and  Earth,  New,  App.  vii.  4. 
Hegel,  Pref.  R.  E.  viii. 
Hell,  iii.  9;  vi.  21;  ix.  7;  App. 

XV. 

Hephaistus,  Tongs  of,  ix.  16. 
Hera,  vii.  42. 

Heracles,  v.  35;  vii.  42;  viii.  19, 
22. 
Ascension  of,  i.  49. 
Hereafter,  The,  App.  ii. 
Heredity,  vii.  17. 


374 


INDEX. 


Heritage  of  Elect,  iv.  25. 
Hermes,  Pref. ;  v.  20,  41 ;  viii. 

12;   ix.   II,    13,   15,   16,   17; 

App.  xii.  (5)  ;  xiv.    Hymn 

to,  App.  xiv. 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  i.  36;  v. 

16,  n. 
Hermetic  Philosophy,  Pref.  R. 

E.  i;  vii.  3. 
Herod,  viii.  31. 
Heroes,  viii.  18. 
Herpe,  App.  xiv. 
Hestia,  ii.  13;  vi.  31. 
Heterisation,    Pref.   R.   E.  vii, 

viii. 
Hiddekel,  vi.  6. 
Hierarch,  viii.  19,  22,  23. 
Hierarchy   of   Heaven,   iii.   Z7, 

60;  ix.  49. 
Hieroglyph,  Pref.  R.  E.  zi;  ii. 

46 ;  viii.  26 ;  App.  i.  2. 
Hierophant,  iii.  53. 
Hindu  Myths,  vi.   12. 
Hindustan,  viii.  53. 
Holy  City,  vi.  24;  viii.  19. 
Holy  Family,  viii.  52. 
Holy  Ghost,  or  Spirit,  Pref.  R. 

E.  ix;  ix.  42,  43,  44;  App. 

xi. 
Holy  of  Holies,  viii.  28,  48;  ix. 

49. 
Holy  Place,  App.  vi. 
Horus,  i.  49. 
Host,  vi.  34;  App.  V.  40. 
Hosts,  God  of,  ii.  41. 
Houris,  ix.  28. 
Human  Kingdom,  vi,  4. 
Humanity,  Pref. ;  ii.  2>^ ;  vi.  24 ; 

vii.  II,  13,  20,  50;  viii.  6, 


47,   SI,   54;    ix.   8,    18,   22; 
App.  ii. 
Hydrogen,  ii.  20. 
Hygieia,  vii.  55. 
Hymn  of  Aphrodite,  App.  xiii., 
Pt.  I. 
to  Hermes,  App.  xiv. 
to  the  Planet-God,  App.  xii. 

lacchos,  i.  44;  v.  40;  viii.  2^^ 

Z7 ;  App.  xi.,  XV. 
Hymn  to,  App.  xii. 
Ideas,  ii.  19;  iv.  16;  v.  20;  viii. 

3,  5;  ix.  50. 
Archetypal,  v. 
Divine,  ii.  14. 
Religious,  i.  54. 
Idolatry,  ii.  8;  iv.  3;  vi.  25,  26; 

vii.  6,  52;  viii.   10,  26;  ix. 

10;  App.  i. 
Ill  Living,  iii.  45. 
Illumination,  Pref.  R.  E.  xi.;  i. 

7,  35 ;  iii.  52,  S2> ',  App.  iii.  8. 
Image  of  God,  i.  53;  ii.  11,  44; 

V.  18;  vi.  2,  14,  24;  vii.  5, 

20,  39,  51;  viii.  4,  11;  ix.  8, 
^  9,  46,  n.,  53. 
Imitation  of  God,  ii.  11. 
Immaculate,  Conception,  v.  44, 

45- 
Mother  of  God,  Pref.  R.  E. 

ix. 
Immanuel,  iv,  2^- 
Immortality,  ii.  26;  vi,  8, 
Incantation,  iii.  9 ;  iv.  7, 
Incarnation,  Pref,  R,  E,  ix;  iv. 

31;   vi,  31 ;   viii.  40;  ix,  7, 

n. ;  App,  xii.  (2)  ;  xiii.  Pt. 

2;  ii.  28. 
India,  viii.  51,  52. 


INDEX. 


375 


Individual,  ii.  15;  vii.  7;  viii.  3; 

ix.  46,  n. 
Individualism,  v.  2. 
Individuality,  v.  5,  32,  43. 
Influx,  Divine,  i.  8. 
Initiate,  Initiation,  iii.  18;  viii. 

31- 
Inspiration,  App.  iii.,  i. 
Intellect,  ix.  25 ;  App.  i.  i. 
Interpretation,      Day     of,      at 

hand,  App.  iii.  Pt.  2 ;  xii. 

(2);   xiii.   Pt.   I    (4). 
Intuition,  Pref .  R.  E.  ii;  Pref . ; 

i.  5,  6,  7;  ii.  38,  41;  V.  Z2,', 

vii.   13  30;  ix.   17;  App.  i. 

I ;  iii.  7. 
a  Mode  of  Mind,  i.  5. 
Method  of,  i.  12,  15. 
Irenaeus,  vi.  8. 
Isaac,  viii.  52. 
Isaiah,  viii.  25 ;  ix,  2. 
Isha,  vi.   15,  2Z. 
Isis,  ii.  35;   iii.  42,  51;   iv.  27; 

vi.  18;  viii.  52. 
Islam,  viii.  53 ;  ix.  28. 
Israel,  viii.  48,  55;  viii.  30,  47, 

50,  52. 
Issa,  iv.  27. 
Jacob,      viii.      52.    See      also 

lacchos. 
Twelve  Sons  of,  App.  i.  i. 
Jakshas,  iv.  12. 
Janus  Bifrons,  i.  21. 
Jasper,  vi.  4. 
Jehovah,  ii.  42;  iii.  28;  vi.  31; 

ix.  5,  7,  42. 
Jericho,  ix.  13. 
Jerome,  vi.  3,  n.,  8. 
Jerusalem,    New,   vii.  30;   viii. 

43. 


Jesse,  viii,  52. 

Jesus,  Pref.  R.  E.  v;  ii.  46;  vi. 
3,  42;  viii.  12,  17,  24,  49, 
52;  App.  vi. 

Buddha,  &   Pythagoras,  viii. 
48-51.       , 

Chrestos,  iv.  30. 

Liberator,  viii.  2y. 

versus  Paul,  ix.  22. 
Joachim,  App.  xi. 
Job,  viii.  52. 
John,  viii.  12. 

the  Divine,  29. 

Baptist,  viii.  38,  49. 
Jordan,  viii.  39. 
Joseph,  as  Mind,  viii.  30,  31. 
Joshua,  ix.   15. 
Judaism,  i.  556. 
Judas,  iv.  9 ;  viii.  44 ;  App.  v.  25. 
Julian  the  Apostate,  iv.  14. 
Justice,  Divine,  viii.  2. 
Justin  Martyr,  vi.  8. 


Kaabah,  vi,  i,  2,  3 ;  ix.  18. 
Kabbala,  Pref.  R.  E.  x,  xi;  v. 

20 ;  ix.  9,  18,  19,  20,  24. 
Kabbalistic    Philosophy,    Pref. 

R.  E.  i;  V.  21. 
Kalpa,  i.  29;  iv.  35;  v.  41;  vi. 

31,  34- 
Kant,  Pref,  R.  E.  viii. 
Karma,  v.  14,  41;  App.  x.  (4). 
Karoub  Tree,  i.  25. 
Kelpis,  iii.  34. 
Keys  of  the  Kingdom,  i.  21. 

Sanctuary,  App.  xv.  20. 
King's  Chamber,  v.  22 ;  viii.  28. 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  iii.  3;  iv. 

31;  vi.  26;  ix.  22,  40. 


376 


INDEX. 


of    God,    Pref.    R.    E.    vii; 

App.  V. 
Kings  of  East,  viii.  36,  53. 
Knowledge,  Self,  ii.  3;  vii.  10. 
Koran,  vi.  i ;  ix.  28. 
Krishna,  i.  38,  44,  49,  56 ;  ii.  46 ; 

viii.  12,  50;  ix.  3,  II,  52. 
Kronia,  vi.  35. 

Ladder    of    Incarnation,    App. 

xii.  (2). 
Lamb,  App.  i.  i. 

of  God,  iv.  30;  viii.  41. 

Marriage  of,  vi.  2;  viii.  41. 
Lares  and  Penates,  iii.  8,  20. 
Larvae,  iii.  20. 
Law,  App.  V.  40. 

and  Gospel,  ii.  42. 
Lazarus,  iii.   16;  viii.  28. 
Leibnitz    on    Reincarnatiort,    i. 

38. 
Leo,  vi.  39. 

Leo  XIIL  v.  44  n.;  vi.  39. 
Lethe,  iii.  20. 
Levi,  Tribe  of,  viii.  45. 

See  Eliphas. 
Lewes,  G.  H.,  ix.  17,  n.,  34,  n. 
Libra,  vi.  37;  ix.  22. 
Life,  V.  10;  ix.  43. 
Life-process,  v.   18. 
Light  Invisible,  ii.  30;  ix.  45. 
Light,  atent,  iii.  24. 

of  Asia,  iv.  15. 
Limbo,  Limbic,  iii.  4,  8. 
Lion,  vi.  4 ;  viii.  29, 
Loaves  and  Fishes,  viii.  28. 
Logos,  V.  20;  viii.   17,  50;  ix. 

23,  24,  44,  46,  50,  53. 
Lord,  Our,  and  the  Lord,   ix. 
7,8. 


Lot's  Wife,  vi.  20. 

Love,  Divine,  iv.  25,  34;  vii.  13. 

Lucretius,  ix.  39. 

Luke,  viii.  29. 

Lunar  Months,  viii.  44. 

Luza,  App,  XV. 

Maccabees,  vi.  11. 
Macrocosm     and     Microcosm, 

Pref.  R.  E.  viii;  i.  10;  ii. 

19,  22,  36,  Z7;  iii.  3,  38,  51; 

iv.    15,   31;   v.   25;   vi.  21; 

vii.   5;   viii.  5,  36,  43,  51; 

ix.  9,  44;  App.  V.  59. 
Magdalen,  viii.  32,  35 ;  ix.  13. 
Magi,  Magian,  vii.  48;  viii.  22, 

2,^,  53. 
Magic  Number,  iii.  4. 
Magical  Age,  vi.  3 ;  viii.  19,  31. 
Magie,  la  Haute,  El.  Levi,  iv. 

12,  n;  V.  39. 
Magnetic    Atmosphere,    i.    54; 
ii.   18;  iii.   18;  App.  ii. 
Body,  iii.  5. 
Factor,  ii.  21. 
Force,  ii.  13. 
Man,  App.  v.  z^. 
Maimonides,  i.  25 ;  vi.  8. 
Man,  ii.  38;  vii.  51 ;  viii.  49,  51 ; 
ix.  38,   53;   App.  xii.    (2). 
as  Microcosm,  iv.  31. 
Astral,  App.  ii. 
Man,    Dematerialisation   of,    i. 
14. 
Fourfold  Nature  of,  i.  9,  10; 

vii.  7,  9-14. 
his  Divine  Part,  i.  13. 
his  own  Creator,  ii.  25. 
Natural,  iii.  3. 
of   Sin,  i.  55^;  ix.  23. 


INDEX. 


Z77 


Regenerate,  ii.  46;  iv.  24;  v. 
44;  vii.  25,  26,  27,  28,  30, 
31,  33,  38,  41,  45,  48,  49; 
ix.  12. 
Spiritual,  iii.  3. 
Manes,  or  Shades,  iii.  7,  8. 
Manetho,  vi.  13. 
Manhood,   ii.  38;   vii.  39. 
Manifestation,   viii.   5 ;   ix.  42, 
44. 
of  God,  V.  17,  18. 
INIark,  viii.  29. 
Marriage,  iii.  55;  vii.  I3. 

Divine,  vi.   39;   vii.  50;   viii. 
41,  43;  App.  V.  21-23. 
Mary,   or   Maria,   Pref.   R.   E. 
ix ;  ii.  34,  35 ;  vi.  19,  23,  37 ; 
viii.  30,  32,  35,  39,  40 ;  App. 
vi.  xi. 
Annunciation  of,  viii.  39. 
Assumption  of,  v.  43-6. 
Materialism,   ii.   7;    ix.    14,   30, 
31,  35,  37,  38,  39;  App.  i.  2. 
Materialists    and    Mystics,    ix. 

35-39. 

Matter,  i.  28;  v.  8,  11,  12;  vii. 
15;  16,  25;  viii.  5;  ix.  35; 
App.  vii. 

Antithesis  of   Spirit,   ii.  4. 

Dynamic  and  Static,  i.  29. 

Dynamic    Condition    of    Sub- 
stance, i.  28,  29. 
Manifestation  of  Spirit,  ii.  9. 
not  evil,  is  Spirit,  ii.  8. 
not  Soul,  ii.  2. 

Matthew,  viii.  29. 

Maudsley,  Dr.,  iv.  34,  n. 

Maut,  vi.  15. 

Maya,  vi.  25,  26,  31,  33;  App. 
XV.  50. 


Mecca,  vi.  i. 

Mediator,  The   Soul  as,  i.   18, 

21 ;  vii.  13. 
Medium,    iii.   23;    viii.    15,    16, 

18;  App.  iii.   II,   17;  X.  2. 
Medusa,  Pref. 
Memory,    Intuitional,    i.    7,    8; 

vi.   10;  vii.  40;  App.  ii. 
Two  Kinds  of,  iii.  50;  v.  2, 

31. 
Recovery  of,  iii.  52. 
Merkaba,  vi.  2;  ix.  18. 
Meru,  Mount,  vi.  5. 
Messiah,  iv.  8;  viii.  45,  47. 
Metallic  Region  of   Planet,  ii. 

18. 
Metempsychosis,  iii.  20. 
Microcosm,  sec  Macrocosm. 
Migration  of  Cosmic  Souls,  v. 

42. 
Milton,  iii.  33;  ix.  27. 
Mind,  V.  8,  9,  20. 

Joseph  as,  viii.  30,  31. 
Miracles,  i.  24,  25;  viii.  28. 
Mirror,     Protoplasmic,    iii.    7; 

vii.  7. 
Mithras,   i.   44,  49,   56;   ii.  46; 

vi.  37;  viii.  25,  50. 
Mohammed,  vi.  i ;  viii.  52. 
Molech,  iv.  14. 
Molecules,   i.  28;   v.  2,  3,  32; 

App.  iv.  14. 
Monad,  v.  32. 

Dualism  of,  ii.  29. 
Monstrance,  vi.  34. 
Moon,     The     Genius     as,     iii. 

3^-47,  51,  52;  App.  ii. 
The  Apocalyptic,  vii.  27. 
Mormonism,  ix.  28. 
Moses,  iii.  49;  iv.  7;  vi.  10,  11, 


378 


INDEX. 


12,  13,  15;  viii.  48,  so;  ix. 
2,  9,  24. 
Books     of,     App.     I      (see 
Pentateuch). 
Mosheim,  vi.  8. 

Mother,  viii.  30,  32,  35,  39,  4o; 
ix.  53;  App.  xi. 
of  Sorrows,  Joys,  ii.  36. 
Motion,  ii.  22;  v.  3;  vi.  31,  33. 
Mount,      Celestial,      The      vii. 

43-49- 
Mysteries  Pref. ;  i.  44;  iv.  31; 
v.   22,   46;   vi.   2;   vii.   41; 
viii.      28,      52;      App.     xi. 
Secrecy  of,  iii.  28. 
Not     Incomprehensible,     ix. 

10. 
Taught     Transmigration,     i. 

35-41. 
Mystery  of  Godliness,  ix.  9,  18. 
Mysticism,    ii.    4;    vii.    10;    ix. 

29-36. 
Mystics,  V.  28,  29;  viii.  25, 

and  Materialists,   ix.  35-39, 
Myths,    Parabolic    in    Hebrew 

Scriptures,  vi.  12. 


Naiads,  iii.  34. 

Naros,  vi.  35. 

Nature,  iii.  21 ;  vii.  51 ;  viii.  3 ; 

App.  ix. 
Nebuchadnezzar,     Dream     of, 

vii.  55. 
Image  of,  ix.  14. 
Necessity,  the  Will  of  God,  v. 

12. 
Negation,  Pref.;  ii.  7;  iv.  28; 

vi.  22. 
Neoplatonists,  i.  7;  ix.  34, 


Nephesh,  i.  40,  n. ;  v.  35 ;  App. 

ii. 
Neshamah,  v  35,  41 ;  App.  ii. 
Newman,  Cardinal,  ix.  10,  n. 
Nicodemus,  v.  45. 
Night  Time  of  Soul,  iii.  31. 
Nirvana,  Pref.  R.  E.  ix;  i.  29; 

ii.  16;  iii.  29;  v.  37,  43,  n.; 

vi.  31;  viii.  28,  43;  App.  ii. 
Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,  viii.  52. 
No-God,  The,  ii.  9;  iii.  10;  vii. 

17- 

Nonentity,  ii.  6;  iii.  14;  v.  28. 

Not-Being,  iii.  11. 

Nothing,  viii.  5. 

Nous,  iii.  55;  V.  16;  ix.   11. 

Now,  vii.  4 ;  and  Within,  ix.  54. 

Nucleolus,   iii.  57;   v.  44;  viii. 

29,  44.  51. 
Nucleus,  iii.  57;  v.  4,  44;  viii. 

48. 
Nysa-Nissi,    ix.    9;    App.    xii. 

(4);    (6). 

Obelisk,  iii.  37. 

Objective,  Pref.  R.  E.  v;  v.  33. 

Oblation  of  God,  iv.  22,  35,  36. 

Occult  Science,  v.  i. 

Ocean  of  Infinitude,  ii.  34. 

Odic,  or  Astral,  ii.   19,  21. 

Odysseus,  v.  35. 

Olivet,  ix.  9. 

Olympus,  Pref. ;  iv.  35 ;  vi.  5. 

One     Life,     Concerning     the, 

App.  x. 
Only  Begotten,  viii.  17;  ix.  5. 
Ordeal,    iii.   8;    viii.   22;    App. 

xii.    (5). 
Organism,  v.  8. 
Original,  Divine,  ix.  36. 


INDEX. 


379 


Orthodoxies,  ix.  22,. 

Osiris,   i.   44,   56;   ii.   46;   viii. 

2S,  50. 

Ovary,  vii.  3. 

Ovid,  vi.  14,  24. 

Ox,  Oxen,  vi.  4;  viii.  29,  37; 

App.  xiii.  Pt.  I.   (3). 
Oxygen,  ii.  20. 


Pallas  or  Minerva,  ii.  35. 
Papias,  vi.  8. 
Paracelsus,  iv.  12. 
Paraclete,  i.  7;  viii.  51. 
Paradise,  vi.  2,  6;  vii.  51;  ix.  9. 

Lost  and  Regained,  vi.  24. 
Parenchyma,  v.  39. 
Particle  Divine,  App.  ii. 
Passion,  iv.  31 ;  vi.  2 ;  viii.  7,  8, 

28,  39,  41;  App.  v.  49. 
Passion    Week,    six    Days    of 

Creation,  iv.  35. 
Paul,   Pref.   R.  E.  iv;  iii.  33; 

iv.  9;  vi.  19,  20;  viii.  27  \ 

ix.  9,  19-24. 
Pearl,  viii.  43. 
Penance,  iii.  8;  vi.  31. 
Pentateuch  on  Sacrifice,  iv.  6. 
Not  by  Moses,  iv.  7;  vi.  11. 
Perceptive  Point,  v.  30,  33. 
Perfect  Man,  iv.  27,  29. 
Perfect  Way,  Pref.  R.  E. ;  i.  7 ; 

ii.  47;  vi.  24. 
Perfection,  iii.  54;  vi.  6;  vii.  5, 

45;    viii.   4,    7,   8,    II,    38; 

App.  X. 
Mount  of,  vii.  45,  47;  ix.  9. 
Original,  viii.  i. 
System  of,  i.  2;  ii.  5,  7. 
See  Christs. 


Perisoul,  or  Astral  Body,  i.  9; 

ii.  13,  18;  iii.  4,  5. 
Perseus,   Pref. 

Person   of   Microcosm,  vi.  4; 
ix.   II. 

in  Godhead,  ii.  29;  v,  17. 

in  Trinity,  v.  4;  ix.  42. 
Persona,  v.  9;  App.  ii. 
Personality,  i.  32;  iii.  32;  v.  9, 
11,^  12,  17,  42,  43,  n.;  App. 
viii.,  ix. 
Personation  of  Spirits,  iii.  25. 
Peter,  vii.  2^- 

Catholic  Tradition,  i.  21. 
Peter,  Confession  of,  i.  20. 
Phantasmagoria,   iii.  28. 
Phantasms,  vii.  13. 
Phantoms,  v.  27,  35,  Z^,  Zl- 

Death  of,  v.  38. 
Pharaoh,  vi.  6. 
Pharisees,  vi.  11. 
Phenomena  and  Substance,  ii. 

5. 
Incapable   of    Self-cognition, 

V.  31. 
Philistines,  ix.  14. 
Philo,  iii.  33;  ix.  24. 
Philosopher's    Stone,   viii.    11; 

ix.   14. 
Phison,  vi.  6,  14. 
Pillar  of  Cloud  and  Fire,  ix. 

16;  App.  xii.  (6). 
Pindar,  ii.  22;  v.  35,  n. 
Plagiarists,  Mystics  not,  ix.  29, 

30. 
Planes,  Pref.  R.  E.  vi\  i.  30; 

iii.  56,  57. 
Planet,   Memory  of,   i.   16;    ii. 

18;  V.  16,  17;  vii.  7. 
Astral  Counterpart  of,  v.  39. 


38o 


INDEX. 


Planet,  Consciousness  of,  v.  17. 
Soul  of,  V.  17,  39;  App.  X. 

Planet-God,  App.  xii. 

Planisphere,  Zodiacal,  vi.  36. 

Plato,  i.  38;  iii.  33;  vi.  24;  vii. 
41 ;  ix.  24,  25. 

Plurality  of  God,  ix.  45. 

Poet,  ii.  27;  App.  ix. 

Point  of  Consciousness,  Ra- 
diant, V.  23-26,  30. 

Polarisation,  v.  11;  viii.  10,  18, 
22;  ix.  49. 

Polarities,  v.  33. 

Pontius  Pilate,  iv.  9. 

Pope,  see  Leo. 

Popes,  Signet  of,  v.  16,  n. 

Poseidon,  iii.   16;  ix.  16. 

Positive  Doctrine,  ii.  5. 

Possession,  iii.   15. 

Postel,  Pref.  R.  E.  xL 

Potency,  Divine,  ix.  46;  App. 
xi. 

Potentiality  of  Man,  ii.  i,  28, 
29;  iv.  31;  vii.  10,  39;  viii. 
18;  App.  xii.  2. 

Poverty,  viii.  20. 

Pralaya,  v.  40. 

,Prayer,  iii.  49;  App.  xiii.  11, 
46. 

Prerogative  of  Men,  Revela- 
tion, i.  17. 

Present  Time   a   New  Era,   i. 

55- 
Presiding  Spirits,  iii.  34. 
Priest  and  Prophet,  iv.  7,  10. 
Priesthoods,  Error  of,  i.  22;  iv. 

5  ;  vi.  28 ;  vii.  19. 
Principles,    Separability   of,   v. 

Prism,  iii.  60;  iv.  25. 


Procession    of    Spirit,    iii.    37; 
ix.  45- 
of  Holy  Ghost,  ix.  43. 
Proclus,  ix.  17. 
Procrustes,  Pref.  R.  E.  viii. 
Prodigal  Son,  ii.  9. 
Prometheus,  vi.  19. 
Prophecy,  A,  App.  iii.,  Pt.  2. 
Prophesying,  On,  App.  iii.  Pt. 

I. 

Prophet,    ii.  43;    iii.   53;    iv.   7, 

10;  vii.  49;  App.  iii. 
Propitiation,   iv.   9. 
Protestantism  and  Woman,  ix. 

27. 
Protoplast,  V.  19. 
Psyche,  v.  4,  13,  25,  31. 
Detachment  of,  v.  34. 
Purgation,  v.   13,  37,  38. 
Purgatory,  iii.  4,  8,  20. 
Purification,   iii.   16;   ix,   53. 
Purity,  Condition  of,  as  Means 

to  Salvation,  vii.  18. 
Pymander,  i.  36;  ix.  53. 
Pyramid,  iii.  37;  vi.  2;  vii.  55; 

viii.  28. 
Pythagoras,   i.  38;   ii.  46;   viii. 

48,  51. 
Python,  ii.  12;  vi.  36. 

Qualification  of  Writers,  i.  4. 
Queen's  Chamber,  viii.  28. 

Rabbi  Eliezer,  i.  25. 
Rabbinical    Interpretation,    vi. 

12. 
Race,  Correspondence  of,  with 

Individual,  vii.  7. 
Radiant  Point,  God  as,  v.  25. 
Rahab,  viii.  32;  ix.   13. 


INDEX. 


381 


Ram,  ix.  13,  15. 
Raphael,  ix.  11. 
Reality,    Spiritual    only,    Pref. 
R.    E.    viii,    ix;    vii.    10; 
App.  I. 
Reason,  Pure,  Pref.;  i.  23;  vi. 

27. 
Reconciliation,  iv.   16,  24. 
Reconstruction,  i.  56. 
Redeemers,  vii.  49- 
Redemption,    Pref.    R.   E.   ix 
ii.  10;  iv.  31;  vi.  20,  31,  38 
vii.  26;  viii.  2,  5,  6,  7,  41 
App.  vii.   24. 
Reflection,  iii.  33. 
Reflective  States,  iii.  Zi. 
Reflects,  iii.  25;  ix.  7,  n. 
Reformation,  ix.  27. 
Refraction,   iii.  33. 
Regeneration,  iii.  50,  53 ;  v.  30 ; 
vi.  24;  viii.  12,  31,  43;  ix. 
7,  n.,  S3. 
Religion,  Pref.  R.  E.,  i,  in,  vi ; 
vii.  49;  viii.  24. 
Degenerate,   i.  55/;  vi.  25. 
Historic,  i.  43. 
Keynote  of,  iv.  4. 
Religion,  Real,  i.  48;  ii-  12. 
Renunciation,  viii.  38,  50. 
Representative  Men,  ii.  5. 
Reservation  of  Jesus,  i.  55^. 
Rest,  or  Static  Condition,  i.  29. 
Resurrection,   Pref.   R.   E.   ix; 
vi.  2;  viii.  8,  9,  10,  40,  52; 
App.  vii.   12. 
Resuscitation,  viii.  9- 
Revealer,  i.  7. 
Reveilation,  App.  viii. 
Revelation,    Book    of,    vii.    19. 
See  also  Apocalypse. 


Proper  Prerogative  of  Man, 

i.  17;  ii.  12;  App.  viii. 
Rod,  viii.  30;   ix.   16;   App.  v. 

40;  xii.  97;  xiv. 
Rosary,  viii.  20,  39. 
Rosicrucian,  iii.  34. 
Round  Table,  viii.  44. 
Ruach,  Anima  Bruta,  v.  35,  37, 

38,  40;  App.  ii. 
Rudimentary  Men,  vi.   14;  vii. 

10. 

Sabbath,  iii.  54)  vi.  2,  14,  16, 

31;  vii.  55;  viii.  28;  App. 

V.  61 ;  XV.  (2). 
Sacerdotal    Interpolations,    vi. 

12. 
Sacerdotalism,  i.   55&;  vii.  34, 

41 ;  viii.  26. 
Sacrament    of     Eucharist,    iv. 

36,  37- 
Sacramental  Host,  vi.  34;  App. 

V.  40. 
Sacred  Books,  i.  43- 
Sacrifice  in  Pentateuch,  Isaiah, 

Jeremiah,  iv.  6. 
Doctrine  of,  iv.  16;  App.  i.  i. 
Salamanders,  iii.  34. 
Salt,  vi.  20;  viii.  10. 
Salvation,   Pref.   R.   E.  vii;   i. 

42;   ii.   12;  iii.   II,  22;   vii. 

4,  5,  6,  18,  28;  viii.  27. 
Captain  of,  viii  4. 
Sangreal,  iv.   19;  viii.  ii. 
Sapphire,  vi.  4. 
Sara,  viii.  52,  n. ;  ix.  20,  n. 
Satan,  iii.  13;  Secret  of,  App. 

XV. 

Saturn,  v.  37;  App.  xv.,  n. 
Saturnalia,  vi.  35. 


3S2 


INDEX. 


Saving  Faith,  its  Nature,  i.  19. 
Saviour,   Pref . ;  ii.  46;  iv.  27; 

vii.   18;  viii.  18;  App.  xii. 

(2). 
Personal,  iv.  27. 
Scale,  iii.  60. 

Scandinavian  Theology,  v.  41. 
Schefifler,  i.  56;  viii.  35. 
Schelling,    Pref.  iii.  5. 
Schwegler,  ix.  34. 
Science,  i.  51. 
Scripture,     Mystic     Sense     of, 

Pref.  R.  E.  v;  vii.  3-8;  ix. 

7,  n. ;  App.  i.,  vi. 
Sea  of  Bitterness,  viii.  32. 
Seasons  in   Spiritual  Life,  vii. 

50. 
Sects  of  Persia,  iv.  12. 
Segregation,  v.  2. 
Self,  viii.  3;  ix.  34,  51. 
Self-consciousness,  v.  28. 
Selfhood,  Pref.  R,  E.  vi,  viii; 

V.   18,  43,  n.,  44;   viii.  27; 

App.  ix.' 
Self-propagation,  iii.  32. 
Sensation    and    Knowledge,    i. 

54;  ii.  6;  ix.  38. 
Sensitive,  iii.   19. 
Sensitiveness,  v.  29. 
Separability    of    Principles,    v. 

33,  35- 
Septimianus,  vi.  35. 
Sepulchre,    viii.    26;    App.    xv. 

(2). 
Seraph,  vi.  15,  31,  34. 
Serpent,  ii.  42;  iv.   17,  28;  vi. 

13,  15,  22,25,34;  vii.  5,26; 

viii.  39. 
Brazen,  vi.   15. 
Serpents,  ix.  10. 


Sesha,  i.  29. 
Seven  Hills,  vii.  31. 

Spirits  of  God,  ii.  32;  ix.  44. 
Sex,  ii.  41;  vii.  11,  13;  ix.  8. 
Shades,  iii.  5,  19,  25. 
Shechina,  viii,  44. 
Shiloh,  vi.  39. 
Shrine,  App.  viii. 
Sideral  Body,  ii.  21. 
Sight  of  God,  i.   18;  ix.  i,  40, 

41,  48,  51. 
Sin,  V.  14;  vi,  19,  20;  vii.  4,  22, 
24,   51;    viii.    I,  47. 

Nature  of,  App.  iv. 

Wilderness  of,  vi.   15. 
Sinai,  ix.  9. 
Sinon,  vi.  5;  ix.  9. 
Siva,  ix.  52. 

Six  Crowns,  viii.  28,  43. 
Socrates,  Daemon  of,  iii.  44. 

and  Re-incarnation,  i.  38. 
Sodium,  ii.  35. 

Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  vi.  30. 
Solar  System,  Man  a,  ix.  48. 
Solemnisation,  viii.  34,  40. 
Son,  ix.  42. 

and  Word,  i.  30. 

of  God,  viii.  44;  ix.  5,  42,  53. 

of  Man,  viii.  4,  26;  ix.  53. 
Sons  of  God,  vi.  14;  vii.  48. 
Sophia,  ii.  34;  vi.  15;  ix.  24. 
Sorcery,  iv.  12. 

Soul,  Pref.  R.  E.  ix;  i.  26; 
ii. ;  iiii.  i ;  iv.  4;  v.  5,  7,  10, 
11;  vi.  4,  6;  vii.  i,  6,  13, 
27;  viii.  I,  3;  App.  viii. 
Soul  and  Spirit,  v.  5-1 1;  App. 
V.    (I). 

Astral,  V.  39,  41. 

Breath  of,  iii.  27. 


INDEX. 


383 


Condemnation  of,  i.  36. 
Evolution  of,  i.  40;  "•  I3,  23. 
Houses     of     Initiation     of, 

App.  xii.   (5). 
Immortality  of,  i.  36;  ii.  13. 
Incarnation  of,  viii.  6. 
in  Plants  and  Animals,  ii.  23. 
Loss  of,  iii.  22. 
Mediation  of,  i.   18. 
Memory    of,    i.    6;    iii.    30; 

App.  ii. 
Migration   of,   i.   36,   37',   "• 

15;  V.  41. 
Monad  of  Divine  Substance, 

i.  30. 
Nephesh,   Lowest   Mode   of, 

i.  40,  n. 
Perceptions     and     Recollec- 
tions of,   Pref.   R.   E.  iii; 

iii.  50;  ix.  38. 
Perfectibility  of,  i.  8. 
Personal     and     Impersonal, 

App.  ii. 
Pre-existence  of,  i.  8. 
Previous  Incarnations,  i.  37, 

38;  ii.  24;  vi.   10. 
Progression  of,  i.  37. 
Rational,  iii.  55. 
Reality  of,  Pref.  R.  E.  iii. 
Rebirths  of,  Pref.  R.  E.  iii; 

i.  7. 

Redescends,  iii.  21. 

its  Reflective  Power,  ii.  45. 

Returns   to   New    Bodies,   i. 

39. 
Substance  of,  i.  8. 
Universal,  i.  40;  ii.  44. 
Souls,    Communion    of,    App. 

xiii.  Pt.  2. 


Passing  through  of,  ix.  54; 
App.  xii.  (3). 

Spectral  Companion,  iv.  12. 

Spectrum,  ii.  35. 

Spheres,  iii.  i,  5;  vi.  34;  ix. 
48. 

Sphinx,  i.  41;  ix.  19;  App.  vi. ; 
xii.  (6). 

Spinoza,  vi.  11. 

Spirals,  i.  34;  App.  xii.  3. 

Spirit  and  Matter,  i.  28;  no 
boundary  line  between,  i. 
34;  V.  10,  11;  App.  vii.  X. 
and  Soul,  Difference  be- 
tween,   V.    5-1 1 ;    App.    X. 

(I). 
Holy,  ii.  18;  iv.  31;  vi.  22. 
Descent  of,  i.  7. 
of    God,   vii.    5,    15,   25,   26; 
viii.  4,  5;  App.  iii.  9. 
Spirits,  iii.  i,  23,  32. 
Spiritualism,  Astral  and  Celes- 
tial, iii.  24;  vii.  54. 
and  Materialism,  ii.  4-12. 
Stable,  viii.  37. 
Star  of  East,  viii.  37;  ix.  16; 

App.  xiv. 
Stephen,  ix.  53. 
Stigmata,  Five  Wounds,  iv.  24 ; 

viii.  19. 
Stones,  i.  33;  ix.  10,  14. 
Subjective,  Pref.  R.  E.  vi;  v. 

31,  33- 
Substance,  i.  26,  2S;  ii.  2,  29; 

vii.   5,    10,   37;   ix.   10,  43; 

App.  X. 
Celestial,  ii.  17. 
Divine,  i.  30;  viii.  5,  46;  ix. 

46. 
of  Soul  and  Deity,  i.  30. 


384 


INDEX. 


Monads  of,  i.  30;  ii.  29;  ix. 

46. 
Suffering,  viii.  4. 
Sufi,  i.  7 ;  ix.  28. 
Sun,  ii.  46;  iii.  52;  vi.  2,  4,  15, 
34,  37;  App.  2. 

Hieroglyph  of  God,  iv.  27. 
Sun  of  the  Soul,  iv.  27. 

Worship    of,   i.   55&. 
Sun-gods,  ii.  46. 
Superstition,  vi.  27. 
Swedenborg,  ix.  6,  7,  n. 

Foremost  Herald,  ix.  7,  n. 
Synagogue,  vi.  11. 
Synthesis,  v.  32. 

Tabernacle,  vi.  5 ;  viii.  44,  48 ; 

ix.  13. 
Talents,  Parable  of,  ii.  26. 
Talmud,   i.  25;  vi.   10;   ix.  20, 

24. 
Temple,  vii.  30. 
Services  of,  iv.  8. 
Veil  of,  viii.  28. 
Temptation,  vi.  2,  13;  viii.  28. 
Tennant,  viii.  50,  n. 
Testament,   Old  and   New,   iv. 

8;  vii.  6. 
Theckla,  ix.  22,  n. 
Theocracy,  v.  23. 
Theologia,  i.  47. 
Theosophy,  v.  22;  App.  x.  (i). 
Thirteen,  iii.  4;  viii.  44;  App. 

V.  21. 
Thirteenth  Personage,  viii.  44. 
Thoth,    V.    20;    ix.    II,    12,    13. 

See  also  Hermes. 
Thought,  ix.  II. 

of  God,  viii.  5 ;  ix.  46. 
Tides,  vii.  50. 


Time  of  the  End,  App.  vi. 
Time,  Times,  and  a  Half,  viii. 

53. 
Tradition,  i.  55^. 
Trainer  of  the  Christs,  viii.  12; 

ix.   II. 
Transfiguration,  viii.  48. 
Transmigration  of  Souls,  i.  36; 

V.  41. 
Transmigrations  many,  viii.  18. 
Transmutation,   iv.  25,  27;   vi. 

21;  viii.  12,  43;  App.  V.  52; 

vii.  13. 
Tree    of    Divination    of    Good 

and  Evil,  vi.  S3- 
of  Life  and  Knowledge,  vi. 

8,   21,   25,   27,   35,  39;    vii. 

18;  App.  i.  I. 
of  the  Hesperides,  vi.  36. 
Trimurti,  ix.  52. 
Trinity,  i.  30;  v.  4;  ix.  41,  42, 

43,  45,  46,  n. ;  App.  xi. 
Trismegistus,  i.  36. 
Tablet  of,  why  Emerald,  v. 

16,  n. 
Trithemius,  Pref.  R.  E.  xi. 
Twelve  Apostles,  viii.  44. 
Gates,  viii.  19,  43. 
Houses,   viii.  43. 
Twice-born,  App.  xii.   (i). 
Typhon,  vi.  22. 

Ultimates,   iii.  2. 
Understanding,  ix.  11,  13,  16. 
Unit  and  Cipher,  ii.  41 ;  ix.  42. 
Unity,  V.  32. 

of  Soul  and  Spirit,  viii,  3. 
Universal   Medicine,  viii.   11. 
Universals,   Pref.  R.  E.  vi. 
Universe,  Consciousness  of,  v. 
17. 


INDEX. 


38s 


Principle    of,    i.    11;    ii.    29; 

ix.  48. 
Procession  of,  viii.   5. 
Soul  of,  vi.  16. 
Utopia,  vii.  40. 

Vampires,  iii.  28. 
Vegetable  Diet,  viii.   14. 
Vehicles,    Pref.   R.   E.   vi.;   iii. 

32,  56;  V.  22;  vi.  2. 
Veil,  ii.  34;  viii.  28;  App.  xiii., 

Pt.  I. 
Venus,  ii.  35;  vi.  i,  2;  ix.  27,  n. 

Golden  Book  of,  App.  xiii. 
Vestal  Virgins,  vi.  31. 
Via  Dolorosa,  iv.  23 ;  viii.  21, 
Vibration,  Universality  of,  v.  3. 
Vicarious  Bloodshed,  ix.  24, 

Redemption,   viii.   2. 

Sacrifice,  iii.  30;  ix.  22,  28. 
Victories,  Our  Lady  of,  ii.  35. 
Virgil,  vii.   55. 
Virgin,  Celestial,  vi.  2>^,  39. 

Cultus  of,  V.  45. 

Mary,  ii.  35. 

Soul,  vii.  26;  ix,   13,  53. 
Virgo,  V.  45;   ix.  22. 
Vishnu,  ix.  52. 
Vision  of  Adonai,  ix.  47-52. 

of  the  Astrals,  iv.  14. 

of  the  Three  Veils,  vii.  42. 
Vital  Spirits,  iv.   12. 
Vivisection,  iii.  21;  vii.  54;  ix. 

17. 
Volatilisation  of  the  Fixed,  vi. 
20. 

Water,  v.    14,    16;   vii.   13,  n. ; 
viii.  28. 
and  the  Spirit,  v.  45  ;  viii.  4,  30. 
Waves,  Spiritual,  vii.  50. 


Weigelius,   Pref.   R.  E.  vii. 
Will,  V.  12;  vii.  40. 

Central,    viii.    i,    3,    4;    App. 

iv.   15. 
Wind    and    Flame,    Spirit    as, 

App.  2. 
Witches,  iv.   12. 
Within  and  Without,  vii.  8,  44; 

viii.  3,   15,  49;  ix.  9;  App. 

iii.  2 ;  V.  9,  10. 
Within,  Now  and,  ix.  54. 
Witnesses,    Two    Apocalyptic, 

iv.  22,',  vii.  55;  ix.  19. 
Woman,  ii.  34,  48;   iii.  28;  vi. 

18,  38;   vii.   12,   19,  30,  51, 

53;  viii.  44,  49,  5i ;  ix.  20, 

25,  38 ;  App.  i.  I ;  iii.  Pt.  2 ; 

xii.   (2). 
of  Apocalypse,  vi.  37. 
Soul  or  Essential,  ii.  44. 
Temptation    of    by    Serpent, 

and   of   Man   by   Woman, 

vi.   13- 
Word,  V.  4;  vi.  9. 
World,  Exemplary,  v.  21. 
Worlds,  One  Law  for  all,  v.  15. 
of  Form  and  Formless,  App. 

X,,    XV. 

Yakuts,  iv.  12. 

Year  1881,  viii.  47. 

Yes,  Jesus  as  the  divine,  iv.  27. 

Yezidis,  iv.  12. 

Zachariah,  iv,  13. 

Zeus,   Pref,   ix, ;  ii.  21,  42;  vi. 

19;  vii.  42. 
Zodiac,   ii.  46;   vi,  40,  41;   vii. 
26;  viii.  19,  43. 
New  Sign,  App.  vi. 
Zoroaster,  i.  44;  ii,  46;  viii.  50. 


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